The Treasury Department began creating Trump Accounts for children automatically on October 1, 2026, under temporary regulations that took effect the day before. The Internal Revenue Service says the rules are expected to affect 73 million children in 44 million families. Each child with a Social Security number who has not turned 18 by the end of the year gets a separate account that the Secretary of the Treasury opens without a parental election. Control of that account passes to a guardian only if the guardian claims it.
How the Treasury creates auto accounts under TD 10056
The temporary regulations, published in the Federal Register on September 30, 2026, state that on or about October 1, 2026, the Secretary will make an election to establish an auto account for each individual who meets the age and Social Security number requirements. An eligible individual is anyone who has not reached age 18 before the close of the calendar year in which the election is made and who was issued a Social Security number before that date.
Treasury describes the structure as a master group trust. A separate initial account is set up for each child under its own written governing instrument, with separate account-level records. The regulations call these auto accounts, and they exist before any adult acts. Treasury says further automatic enrollments will follow periodically, so a child who becomes eligible after October 1 is not necessarily left out of the first round.
The rules apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and the temporary regulations expire on September 30, 2029. The same day, the IRS published a companion notice of proposed rulemaking that withdraws an earlier proposal on the subject. The regulations say the withdrawal reflects a new structure for automatic enrollment built on a master group trust.
Taking control of an auto account is a separate step. A guardian or legal custodian who has authority under state law to manage the child’s property can make a claim, and under the regulations that person generally becomes the initial responsible party once the receiving account is established. Until someone claims it, the regulations say an auto account may accept only qualified general contributions and the $1,000 pilot payment.
The $1,000 pilot payment, the $5,000 limit and the age-17 lock
The Treasury pilot contribution is $1,000 for a U.S. citizen born in 2025, 2026, 2027 or 2028 who has a Social Security number and whose pilot payment has not been processed before. The regulations say it does not count toward the annual contribution limit. The IRS Trump Accounts page, last updated July 7, 2026, describes the one-time $1,000 as limited to children born from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028.
Once the growth period starts, contributions generally face an annual limit of $5,000, adjusted for inflation for taxable years after 2027. Employer contributions are excluded from the employee’s income up to $2,500 a year, and the regulations state that those employer dollars count inside the $5,000 limit. A worker whose employer puts in the full $2,500 therefore leaves $2,500 of room for family contributions in the same year.
Qualified general contributions fall outside the limit. Under the regulations, they must be made by or through a general funding contribution to a qualified class of beneficiaries, in an equal amount for each child in that class. Governments, nonprofits and tribal governments are among the eligible donors. Because these gifts and the pilot payment sit outside the $5,000, an account can end a year holding more than that figure without any rule being broken.
Money in the account is largely locked. The regulations state that distributions are generally not permitted during the growth period, which ends on December 31 of the calendar year in which the child turns 17. One exception is a direct trustee-to-trustee rollover of the entire balance to an ABLE account of the same beneficiary, permitted in the year the child turns 17. Cash must be invested in funds that track a broad index of primarily U.S. equities, use no leverage and charge no more than 0.1% in annual fees and expenses.
Form 4547, the Treasury app and the November 30 comment deadline
Families have a way to act ahead of the automatic process. The IRS says parents and guardians can elect an account by completing Form 4547, titled Trump Account Election(s), after signing in through ID.me, a process the page puts at five to ten minutes. The regulations separately recognize a manual election and a later claim of an auto account through an electronic application, and a manually elected account must still be activated following the trustee’s instructions.
Treasury has also built a Trump Accounts app. In its May 28, 2026 announcement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the app “delivers a simple, secure way for households to begin engaging with a program designed to build long-term financial strength from day one.” The release lists TrumpAccounts.gov as an alternative to the app and gives a call center number, 1-866-USA-4547, for questions.
The same announcement carries a scam warning. Treasury says activation emails come only from no-reply@TrumpAccounts.Treasury.gov and tells households to verify messages through official channels and never share account credentials by email or phone. Treasury’s instruction to households is to use only that address and its official sites when activating an account.
The rules are not final in every respect. Comments and requests for a public hearing on the companion proposed rule must be received by November 30, 2026, preferably through regulations.gov under docket number CC-00226466-26. The IRS says a hearing will be scheduled only if someone requests one in writing, and Isaac Stein of the Office of Associate Chief Counsel at (202) 317-6320 is the listed contact.
The open question is how many of the 44 million families claim the accounts they were given. The auto accounts can hold only the pilot payment and qualified general contributions until a guardian steps in, so family and employer contributions up to $5,000 wait on that claim. Under the temporary regulations, which expire September 30, 2029, the first accounts exist now and the comment period shapes what replaces them.
A separate guide for benefit programs with income limits
The Benefits Checklist is written for older adults and their families who want to see which income-tested benefit programs might apply to them. It is unrelated to Trump Accounts, which the Treasury creates automatically and which carry no income test.
The Benefits Checklist covers 11 benefit programs, the 2026 income limits and a 50-state phone directory, with a printable tracker that comes with the download.
Click here to get The Benefits Checklist →
This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and reviewed by The Money Overview editorial team.
