More Than 60 Million Children Automatically Enrolled in Trump Accounts

On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced that it had completed automatic enrollment, resulting in more than 60 million additional eligible children having Trump Accounts ready to be claimed. The Treasury and the IRS also issued temporary regulations in TD 10056  guiding automatic enrollment and the administration of Trump Accounts. The temporary regulations apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and expire on September 30, 2029.

What is Automatic Enrollment?

Automatic enrollment is when the Treasury automatically creates Trump Accounts for eligible children. The Treasury announced that as of October 1, 2026, every eligible child under age 18 with a valid social security number (SSN) now has a Trump Account.

For automatic enrollment, the Treasury will make an election for a child it determines satisfies the age and SSN requirements and for whom another person has not already made an election on Form 4547, Trump Account Election(s), or through the no longer available Trump Accounts web enrollment.

How Does Automatic Enrollment Work?

Under the temporary regulations, the Treasury initially serves as the responsible party for an automatically created account and is treated as having activated the account. No separate action is required for the automatically created account to be established.

However, family members, friends, and employers generally cannot make contributions until the Trump Account is claimed by a guardian or legal custodian with legal authority under applicable law. An unclaimed automatically created account has special rules allowing certain government or nonprofit contributions and, when the required election has been made after the account is properly claimed, the $1,000 pilot-program contribution.

Claiming an Automatically Enrolled Account

A guardian or legal custodian with authority under applicable law to manage the child’s property or financial affairs may claim the account. An account beneficiary with legal capacity may also make a claim.

The Treasury directs claimants to use the official Trump Accounts app, available for iOS and Android. The claimant must verify identity and legal authority and provide required authorization concerning the child’s tax information. Claiming the auto account does not by itself establish the receiving account. The receiving account must also be established before the transfer can be completed.

Multiple Claims

If more than one person files a claim, the first claimant does not necessarily become the responsible party. The responsible party is the first person legally authorized to claim the auto account who activates the receiving account.

Ownership versus Management Authority

The Trump Account is maintained for the child’s exclusive benefit, and the responsible guardian or legal custodian does not have any ownership. Specifically, a responsible guardian or legal custodian may manage the account on the child’s behalf, but that authority does not give that person ownership of the account assets.

Additionally, the growth period ends on December 31 of the year in which the child turns age 17. After the growth period, most traditional IRA rules generally apply. The child’s legal capacity to manage the account depends on applicable state law.

Claiming The Seed Money

The Treasury’s October 1 announcement states that an eligible child’s Trump Account must be claimed to receive the $1,000 contribution. TD 10056 provides an exception in limited circumstances when the required pilot-program election has already been made but the account was not activated.

Claiming the account and electing the $1,000 pilot-program contribution are separate actions. Treasury cannot make the pilot-program election for the child. An eligible pilot-program-electing individual must make the election.

Qualified Government and Nonprofit Contributions

In addition to the seed money, governments and qualifying nonprofit organizations may fund Trump Accounts for groups of children rather than individually named beneficiaries. For example, contributions may cover qualifying children born in specified years or residing in specified geographic areas.

An approved class must include at least 5,000 account beneficiaries and use both geographic and birth-year criteria. A qualified geographic area must also include at least 5,000 eligible account beneficiaries. The 5,000-beneficiary minimum does not apply to every type of qualified class, including one defined by birth year alone.

Additional Contributions

After the Trump Account is claimed and the receiving account is established, family members, friends, and employers generally may make contributions, subject to the applicable limits. For example, ordinary contributions are generally subject to an aggregate annual limit of $5,000, adjusted for inflation after 2027. Additionally, employer contributions are subject to a $2,500 income-exclusion limit, adjusted for inflation after 2027, and count toward the $5,000 limit.

What Next?

Guardians and legal custodians should determine whether a Trump Account has already been established through an earlier election or automatic enrollment. The person with legal authority can then claim the account. If the child qualifies for the $1,000 contribution, an eligible individual must remember to separately make the pilot-program election.

For practitioners, Treasury may have taken care of opening more than 60 million accounts automatically. Everything after that is a little less automatic. The details surrounding who can claim the account, who can make the $1,000 election, and what can be contributed are where the real planning begins.

By Kim Tipsord, EA
Tax Materials Specialist, U of I Tax School

Sources

• Treasury Announces the Completion of Automatic Enrollment Today for Trump Accounts | U.S. Department of the Treasury
• Department of The Treasury: Trump Accounts | Federal Register
• Trump Accounts | United States Government
• Form 4547: Trump Account Election(s) | Internal Revenue Service
• Working Families Tax Cuts | Internal Revenue Service