IRS Provides Trump Account Guidance, Requests Comments

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released Notice 2025-68 (the Notice), containing initial guidance and a request for comments on the implementation of Trump accounts under IRC Section 530A. The Notice also specifies that the agencies intend to issue regulations at a later date. A press release notes that the Notice provides a general overview of how Trump Accounts work and addresses certain initial questions about creating initial and rollover Trump Accounts. An Ascensus Washington Pulse previously provided details of these accounts.

Initial guidance found in Section III of the Notice highlights the following.

• An authorized individual (e.g. parent or guardian) may elect to establish a Trump account for the benefit of an eligible individual (an individual who has not turned age 18 before the close of the calendar year in which the election is made, and for whom a social security number has been issued) by making the election on a new Form 4547, Trump Account Election(s), or through an online tool or application on trumpaccounts.gov. Additional details will be provided on December 17, and the online application is expected to be available mid-year 2026.
• Contributions will not be made to these accounts before July 4, 2026.
• A Trump account contribution program may be offered via salary reduction under a section 125 cafeteria plan if the contribution is made to the Trump account of the employee’s dependent but not if the contribution is made to the Trump account of the employee. The Treasury Department and the IRS intend to address rules related to the coordination of Trump account contribution programs and section 125 cafeteria plans in proposed regulations.
• The Treasury Department will select one or more financial institutions as a financial agent to serve as trustee of the initial Trump accounts. The trustees of rollover Trump accounts are not subject to the selection process. The trustee of a Trump account must be a bank (as defined in section 408(n)) or other person who is approved by the IRS to be a nonbank trustee of a Trump account. Any person approved by the IRS as of December 31, 2025, to be a nonbank trustee of an IRA under section 408(a) is automatically approved to be a nonbank trustee of a Trump account.
• A rollover Trump account for an account beneficiary may be established only after the initial Trump account is created by the Treasury Department or its agent for the account beneficiary and only during the growth period of the account beneficiary.
• A rollover Trump account must first be funded by a qualified rollover contribution before receiving any other contribution. In addition, a qualified rollover contribution must include the entire balance of a Trump account (confirming there can be only one Trump account at a time).
• Money market funds and cash are not eligible investments. However, during the growth period (the period before January 1 of the calendar year in which the account beneficiary attains age 18), the trustee’s procedures may permit an amount received as a contribution, a dividend or other distribution from an eligible investment, or an amount received as a result of a sale of an eligible investment, to be held in cash for the time reasonably necessary to complete the investment of the amount in an eligible investment.
• To comply with required reporting of contribution sources, trustees must report the aggregate amount of annual contributions under each of the following categories.
  • Exempt contributions (which consist of qualified rollover contributions, pilot program contributions, and qualified general contributions)
  • Section 128 employer contributions
  • Any other contributions (such as contributions from the account beneficiary, parents, or any other person)

Additionally, the trustee will report the amount and the identity of a contributor making the general funding contribution that is related to a qualified general contribution, if the contributor requests to be identified. This additional reporting of the amount and identity applies only to contributors making general funding contributions.

• A Trump account does not automatically cease to be a Trump account immediately after the growth period. However, a provision is permissible in the written governing instrument for an automatic trustee-to-trustee transfer to a traditional IRA that is not a Trump account after the growth period.
• After the growth period, Trump accounts are generally subject to rules applicable to other traditional IRAs, including Roth IRA conversions.
• The Treasury Department and IRS will release sample language in future guidance regarding Trump accounts.

The Department of Treasury and IRS are requesting comments on the intended regulations and Q&A section of the Notice. Comments must be received no later than February 20, 2026. Proposed regulations may be issued prior to this date, and comments not received in time for consideration in drafting the proposed regulations, will be considered in drafting the final regulations.