Preliminary Guidance for Trump Accounts
As discussed on pages 47 to 50 of the Tax Year 2025 M+O=CPE Individual Tax Reference Book, Trump accounts are effective for the 2026 and later tax years and are for children under the age of 18 as of the close of the calendar year.
The IRS has issued Notice 2025-68, which provides preliminary guidance for these new accounts. The notice also indicates that the Treasury Department plans to issue proposed regulations in the future, which will provide further guidance.
The IRS has also issued a draft version of Form 4547, Trump Account Elections, which is used to open Trump accounts and to elect to receive the $1,000 contribution from the U.S. federal government that is available for children born during 2025 through 2028. The draft version of the form is available from the IRS at: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/f4547–dft.pdf.
Notable items addressed by Notice 2025-68 include the following.
The Treasury Department must create all accounts: The guidance indicates that Trump accounts must originally be created by the Treasury Department, but, in the future, they can be rolled over to eligible private financial institutions.
Establishing accounts: To establish Trump accounts, parents can file Form 4547 as part of their federal income tax returns, and the form can be filed with returns for the 2025 tax year. Form 4547 can also be filed separately on its own. Instead of filing Form 4547, beginning in mid-2026, there is expected to be an online tool to establish accounts at: https://trumpaccounts.gov/.
Practice Tip: Parents with children who were born on or after January 1, 2025, may wish to include Form 4547 with their 2025 federal income tax returns to elect to receive the $1,000 government contribution. The Treasury Department is expected to begin contacting those who submit the form in or around May of 2026 to provide information about authenticating and activating the new accounts.
Employer Contributions: Employers can contribute pre-tax amounts to Trump accounts, and the current limit is $2.500 per employee per year. These contributions can be made through pre-tax salary deductions through a cafeteria plan. The original text of the law was unclear as to whether the $2,500 was allowed each year or only once, and the new guidance clarifies that such contributions can occur annually. In the future the limit will be indexed for inflation.
In our upcoming seminars, we will discuss strategies and logistics related to the new Trump accounts.
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