Nudge letter · trusts and estates
Trust or estate income letter
For HMRC's letter to trustees about the type of trust shown on a trust and estate tax return. This page sets out why HMRC sends it, what the letter says about replying and the routes GOV.UK describes, with each source and the date it was checked.
Last reviewed 8 October 2026 · How Tax Letters checks its facts
The short answer
- What this letter is
- One of HMRC's nudge letters. HMRC's Compliance Handbook says a One to Many approach is where HMRC sends one standard message to many customers, to influence their behaviour so they are more likely to comply with their tax obligations. [1]
- Is it a compliance check?
- HMRC's manual says: “A One to Many approach is not a compliance check.” If your letter says a check has already been opened, it is a different kind of letter, with its own page. [1]
- Why it is sent
- ICAEW reports that HMRC is writing to trusts that may have made an error in their most recent trust and estate tax return by indicating they were not accumulation or discretionary trusts, and that the letter says the trust's name suggests otherwise, while accepting that a trust's circumstances can change over time. [2]
- Your routes at a glance
Every fact on this page comes from a source listed at the foot of the page, with the date it was last checked. All sources and dates
Why you got this letter
ICAEW reports that HMRC is writing to trusts that may have made an error in their most recent trust and estate tax return by indicating they were not accumulation or discretionary trusts, and that the letter says the trust's name suggests otherwise, while accepting that a trust's circumstances can change over time. GOV.UK says each type of trust is taxed differently, and that trustees are responsible for paying tax on income received by accumulation or discretionary trusts. GOV.UK: trusts and Income Tax [2] [3]
HMRC's manual says a One to Many approach sets out what HMRC wants customers to do and why, what happens if they do or do not respond, and what follow up HMRC will undertake. So the letter's own words are the best record of what HMRC is asking about, and why. [4]
HMRC's manual tells its staff that if a One to Many letter asks people for more information or records to show their tax affairs are correct, HMRC must either open a compliance check or make clear that, where information is asked for voluntarily, there is no obligation to provide it. [4]
The reply date, and what follows
What follows if nobody replies is for your letter itself to say. The copy of HMRC's letter that ICAEW published says that if there is no response HMRC may start a compliance check, and that if it then finds more tax is owed it will charge interest and may charge penalties. The letter also says it is up to the trustees to decide what type of trust they have. [5]
What HMRC's own guidance says about disclosure and penalties: HMRC's factsheet CC/FS7a calls it an unprompted disclosure when you tell HMRC about an inaccuracy before you have any reason to believe it has discovered it, or is about to. Telling HMRC at any other time is a prompted disclosure. The same factsheet says the minimum penalty for an unprompted disclosure is lower than the minimum penalty for a prompted one. HMRC's guide to voluntary disclosure says any penalties it charges on outstanding tax will usually be lower if you tell HMRC about it yourself. [6] [7]
For an inaccuracy in a return you sent, HMRC's factsheet CC/FS7a gives the ranges: CC/FS7a gives the penalty range for a careless inaccuracy as 0% to 30% where the disclosure was unprompted, which means you told HMRC before you had any reason to believe it had found the inaccuracy or was about to. Where the disclosure was prompted, which means at any other time, CC/FS7a gives the range for a careless inaccuracy as 15% to 30%. The penalty is a percentage of what HMRC calls the potential lost revenue, the amount that arises from correcting the inaccuracy. GOV.UK: penalties for inaccuracies, CC/FS7a [6]
Your routes
Nothing to declare
If your tax is already right, your letter's own words say whether and how to tell HMRC so.
Amend a recent return
A Self Assessment return can be amended within 12 months of the statutory filing deadline. [8]
A voluntary disclosure
HMRC's guide sets out the ways to make a voluntary disclosure, including the digital disclosure service for Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and other taxes, and says that people who qualify for a current HMRC campaign should follow its guidance. HMRC's guide says that once it acknowledges your notification, your disclosure must reach it within 90 days of that acknowledgement, and so must your payment unless you have made payment arrangements with HMRC by that date. GOV.UK: make a voluntary disclosure [7]
These are the routes GOV.UK describes. Which one fits depends on your own affairs, and this page does not say which.
If one of these is you
You think you took reasonable care
HMRC says it will not charge a penalty for an inaccuracy if you took reasonable care to get things right but your return or document was still wrong; keeping accurate records is one way it gives of showing reasonable care. [6]
Your health or circumstances make the date hard
GOV.UK says that in certain circumstances HMRC can give you an extension to a deadline, for example if you have a mental health condition, are receiving treatment in hospital or are experiencing financial difficulties. You may need to prove why you need more time. GOV.UK: get help from HMRC if you need extra support [9] [10]
Someone else helps with your tax
You can authorise a friend, relative or voluntary organisation to talk to HMRC for you and help you fill in forms. You can also authorise an agent, such as an accountant or tax adviser, to deal with HMRC for you. [11]
Questions to take to an adviser
If you talk to an adviser, these questions keep the conversation on your letter:
- Which years and which income or gains is the letter asking about, and are they on my returns?
- If something is missing, which route fits my affairs, and why?
- What would my reply say, and which records would go with it?
- Is there anything else in those years that a reply or disclosure would need to cover?
Need help with this?
Vision Consulting Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, Tax Letters' founding partner, is regulated by ICAEW. Talk to them in confidence, with no obligation. [12] [13] [14]
Call 020 8554 2135How Vision handles inheritance tax planning
You can also deal with HMRC directly, free, without any adviser. Free help: TaxAid, which says it helps “people who can’t afford to pay for help”, and Citizens Advice.
The two are connected. Tax Letters takes no referral fees.How Tax Letters is funded.
Sources
Each source is linked, with the date Tax Letters last checked it.
- HMRC Compliance Handbook CH600110: The One to Many approach, overview (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- ICAEW: Tax news in brief, 16 September 2026 (checked 8 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Trusts and taxes, trusts and Income Tax (checked 8 Oct 2026)
- HMRC Compliance Handbook CH600120: What is One to Many? (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- ICAEW: copy of HMRC's one-to-many letter about the type of trust, September 2026 (checked 8 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Penalties for inaccuracies in returns or documents, CC/FS7a (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- Taxes Management Act 1970, section 9ZA (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Get help from HMRC if you need extra support, if you need more time (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Get help from HMRC if you need extra support (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK: Appoint someone to deal with HMRC on your behalf (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- Vision Consulting: Contact us (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- TaxAid: About us (checked 8 Oct 2026)
- Citizens Advice: About us (checked 7 Oct 2026)