Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service want to create a Trump Account for every eligible child without the parents filling out anything first. The idea is in proposed regulations published in the Federal Register on September 30, and the government is taking public comments on them until November 30.

These are proposals, not final rules. The notice would add sections 1.530A-1 and 1.530A-7 to the tax regulations, and it says they would apply to taxable years beginning on or after the date final regulations are published. A companion set of temporary regulations, which adds sections 1.530A-1T and 1.530A-7T, appeared in the same issue.

How the accounts would be created

Under the proposal, the Treasury Secretary would open what the notice calls “auto accounts” for eligible individuals, using information from tax returns and Social Security Administration records. A parent or guardian would not need to make an election first.

The notice explains the legal structure. A separate initial Trump account is established for each eligible individual under a separate written governing instrument, and separate account-level records are kept for each. The money in the auto accounts is then invested together through a master group trust. The notice says this was built to address privacy concerns while allowing automatic enrollment.

Anyone who has to act is the “responsible party,” usually a parent. The notice says a responsible party could claim an auto account on the child’s behalf through an identity verification process. Trustees would have to give disclosures if a stock held in the account is delisted or the account receives property that does not qualify.

For parents, the practical point is that the government creates the account but the one-time deposit does not arrive by itself. A Treasury release says “over 60 million more eligible children now have an account ready to be claimed,” and that eligible children “must also have their Trump Account claimed to receive the one-time $1,000 seed contribution from Treasury.”

Rules for these accounts are still being written and revised, and The Retirement Money Brief explains one change each weekday, who it affects and what to do.

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Who is eligible and what goes in

The government’s Trump Accounts site says U.S. citizens under 18 who were born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, receive a one-time $1,000 deposit from the Treasury Department. Parents and guardians can add up to $5,000 a year per child. The site describes the account as fully in the child’s name, with the parent as sole custodian until the child turns 18, and says the money is invested in American companies.

At 18, the site says, the account passes to the young adult, who can leave it invested or withdraw for education, housing or other purposes while keeping its tax advantages. Claiming is done through the official Trump Accounts app, and the site refers to Form 4547 for enrollment.

The Journal of Accountancy, reporting on the September 30 rules, put the reach at about 73 million children in 44 million families. It said Treasury estimated the approach could add more than 60 million accounts in 2026. The article also notes that the rules continue to recognize a responsible party acting for the child.

The comment window and the hearing

Written or electronic comments, and requests for a public hearing, must be received by November 30, 2026, according to the notice. Comments go through Regulations.gov under docket IRS-2026-1321 or by mail to CC:PA:01:PR (CC-00226466-26), Room 5503, Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044.

A public hearing would be held only on request. The notice says one “will be scheduled if requested in writing by any person that timely submits electronic or written comments.” Its listed contact for questions on the regulations is Isaac Stein at (202) 317-6320.

Commenting, or just claiming the account

Two separate jobs sit side by side. One is claiming a child’s account, which runs through the official site, Treasury’s announcement and the Trump Accounts app. The other is commenting on the proposed rules, which runs through the docket or the IRS mailing address, by November 30.

A parent with an eligible child can expect the account to be built from tax-return and Social Security records, as the proposal describes, and the app is where the claim happens. A comment can be a single paragraph that names the part of the proposal it addresses and gives the reason. The federal notice, with its docket number and deadline, is the document to cite.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the Federal Register, Treasury and Trump Accounts pages linked above.