IRS issues temporary regulations for Trump accounts

Effective September 30, 2026, the Internal Revenue Service issued temporary regulations under 26 CFR part 1, RIN 1545-BS27, to establish general requirements for Trump accounts. The regulations apply to trustees of Trump accounts, account beneficiaries, responsible parties and eligible donors who fund qualified general contributions.

Section 1.530A-1T sets forth the election process for an initial Trump account. An eligible individual - any person who has not turned 18 before the close of the calendar year of the election, who possesses a Social Security number before the election, and for whom an election is made either by the Secretary of the Treasury or, if the Secretary has not acted, by a person other than the Secretary in the manner prescribed - must be automatically enrolled by the Secretary. Once the election occurs, the Secretary creates or organizes the initial Trump account for that individual.

Qualified general contributions are defined in section 530A(f). The Secretary may make such contributions, funded by a general funding contribution from a State, the United States, the District of Columbia, an Indian Tribal government, or a 501(c)(3) organization, to each account beneficiary in a qualified class. The contribution must be equal for each beneficiary in the class and is excluded from the beneficiary's gross income under section 139J.

The authority for these regulations derives from section 530A of the Internal Revenue Code, which permits the Secretary to prescribe exceptions to the rule that a Trump account be treated like a traditional IRA under section 408(a). The Treasury and IRS have previously issued Notice 2025-68, a proposed rulemaking (CC-00226466-26) on March 9 2026, and additional notices on March 9 2026 (REG-117270-25), July 13 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2026-25), August 11 2026 (REG-101355-26) and August 21 2026 (CC-00349938-26) addressing related aspects such as contribution pilots, donor safe harbors, employer contributions and eligible investments.

The regulations also require trustees to report to the Secretary and to beneficiaries as prescribed, covering matters the Secretary may require, consistent with the reporting obligations in section 530A(i)(1).