When property is held by a trust, or by the estate of someone who has died, the rental income isn’t reported on a normal Self Assessment — it goes on the Trust and Estate Tax Return (SA900), with the SA903 supplementary pages for property. Here’s how estate and trust property income is taxed, the Section 24 reducer, R185s to beneficiaries, and the deadlines.
The SA900 is the Trust and Estate Tax Return. The SA903 is its “UK property” supplementary pages — the trust-and-estate equivalent of an individual’s SA105.
Personal representatives administering an estate, and trustees of trusts that hold property, use them to report rental income and work out the tax due.
The tax treatment depends on the type: an estate in administration, an interest-in-possession trust, or a discretionary trust each have different rules and rates.
Rental profits are charged to income tax. The rate depends on the regime — for example, discretionary trusts have a standard-rate band and then trust rates, while an estate in administration is taxed at the basic rate.
Crucially, the Section 24 finance-cost restriction still applies to residential mortgage interest, exactly as it does for individuals.
When income is paid out to a beneficiary, they receive a form R185 showing the income and the tax already accounted for. The beneficiary uses that to include the income on their own tax return and claim credit for the tax — so the same income isn’t taxed twice.
Unused property losses and unused residential finance costs are carried forward to future years — the same principle as on an individual’s return.
No mainstream landlord tool touches estate and trust property tax — most don’t even model the ownership type. PropertyApp does:
Yes. While an estate is being administered, rental income the estate receives is taxable, and the personal representatives report it on the SA900.
SA105 is the UK-property page for an individual’s Self Assessment; SA903 is the equivalent UK-property page for a trust or estate’s SA900 return.
A statement given to a beneficiary showing the income paid to them and the tax already accounted for, so they can include it correctly on their own return and avoid double taxation.
Yes — the residential finance-cost restriction applies to trusts and estates, not just to individuals.
31 October for paper filing and 31 January for online filing, mirroring Self Assessment.
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Trust and estate taxation is complex and the rules, rates and bands change — check GOV.UK and take advice from a qualified accountant or tax adviser.
PropertyApp generates the SA903 worksheet from live data, computes SA900 estate income tax with the Section 24 reducer, and apportions R185s to beneficiaries — alongside your SA105 and CT600. Free to start.
Get started free