How To Set Up a Trump Account

Authored by Fred Reish

Our first article in this series, Key Takeaways About Trump Accounts, provides an overview of the purpose and characteristics of the new Trump Accounts, which became effective July 4, 2026.

As a quick refresher, Trump Accounts are tax-preferred growth accounts, similar to IRAs.  They can only be set up for children under the age of 18. Contributions can be made by parents, other individuals, employers, tax exempt charities, and federal, state and local governments.  The limit is $5,000 a year (which can continue through the year of the child’s 17^th birthday); the charitable and governmental contributions are on top of that.  And, for children born in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, the federal government will make a one-time contribution of $1,000, but only if it is applied for.

So, that leads us to the question of, how do you set up a Trump Account for a child (and, if the child was born in the 2025-2028 period, how do you request the $1,000 federal contribution)?

Before you get to the “how,” there’s a “who.” Only an “authorized individual” can make these elections for a child, and the IRS’s definition depends on which election you’re making.  If you’re only opening the account (but not requesting the $1,000), the authorized individual is the child’s legal guardian, parent, adult sibling, or grandparent, in that priority order. A lower-priority person can only file if no one higher on the list is available. However, if you’re also asking for the $1,000 federal (or, more technically, the “pilot”) contribution, the authorized individual must be someone who reasonably expects the child to be their “qualifying child” for tax purposes that year (generally a parent, but it can extend to a sibling raising a child, for example). This is a different, and narrower, test than the one for opening an account.

The first step in setting up the Account is to go to the website trumpaccounts.gov and download the app.  The app is where you verify your identity and activate and manage the account afterward. However, the election to set up the Account is made by filing IRS Form 4547.

You have a few options for filing the Form.

• Filing it electronically along with your e-filed federal income tax return. The IRS says this is the fastest and easiest method, and most major tax software now includes it;
• Submitting it electronically through your IRS Online Account; sign in with ID.me;
• Mailing a paper copy to the IRS address for your state; or
• Using the online election tool at trumpaccounts.gov/form.trumpaccounts.gov

Do this when you have some time—because you will need to validate yourself using your driver’s license and, in effect, a self photograph.

Whichever route you use, you’ll be completing an IRS Form 4547.  Here is a helpful explanation of Trump Accounts and the IRS Form: Instructions for Form 4547 (12/2025) | Internal Revenue Service

Form 4547 will need to be completed for each eligible child.  The Form is set up where two children can be listed.  If there are more than two children eligible to have Trump Accounts, additional copies of the Form 4547 should be completed for those beyond two. Note that each child must have a Social Security Number. For the $1,000 contribution, the SSN needs to be valid for employment…a card marked “Not Valid for Employment” won’t qualify.

If a child was born in the 2025-2028 period, and you want the $1,000 federal contribution, make sure to check the box on line 7. (Apparently, some filers have accidentally failed to check that box and, as a result, their child won’t be receiving the contribution.) To qualify for that $1,000, the child also has to be a U.S. citizen; being born in the right window and having an SSN isn’t enough on its own.

A couple of other things worth knowing as you go through this:

• Don’t attach Form 4547 to an amended return; that won’t be effective;
• Once your election is processed, Treasury will open the Account with an initial trustee it has selected — currently Bank of New York Mellon, working with Robinhood as the brokerage — and the money defaults into a broad S&P 500 index fund.

A copy of the form can be found here. Review it before setting up the accounts to make sure that you have the needed information at hand.