Trump Accounts open for contributions on July 4 with a $1,000 federal seed for eligible children

On July 4, Trump Accounts began accepting contributions for the first time. The accounts are a new type of individual retirement account opened for a child, and for U.S.-citizen children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, the federal government will make a one-time $1,000 deposit into each account for which a parent or guardian has filed the required election.

The accounts and the $1,000 seed come from the tax law President Trump signed on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Treasury Department and the IRS issued proposed regulations setting out how the accounts are opened and how the pilot deposit works.

Who is eligible

Under the law, a parent, guardian, or other authorized person can request a Trump Account for a child who has not turned 18 by the end of the year the election is made and who has a valid Social Security number. That opens the account and allows contributions.

The $1,000 federal deposit is narrower. It goes only to children who are U.S. citizens, have a valid Social Security number, and were born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028. The IRS calls this the contribution pilot program.

To claim it, a parent files IRS Form 4547 with a 2025 tax return, or sets up an account through trumpaccounts.gov. In a March 31 release, the IRS said taxpayers had signed up more than 4 million children for the accounts, and that more than 1 million were covered by elections for the $1,000 deposit. "Families with eligible children born between 2025 and 2028 just need to check the box on a form to stake their claim for the $1,000 contribution," IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank J. Bisignano said in the release.

What can go in, and when

Contributions could not be made before July 4, 2026. Starting that day, money can come from parents, relatives, employers, state governments, and others, up to an annual limit of $5,000 per child for 2026 and 2027, indexed for inflation after 2027.

Employers can pay in as well. Under the guidance, a company can contribute up to $2,500 a year to an employee's account or the account of an employee's dependent, and that amount counts toward the $5,000 cap. The employer contribution is not counted as taxable income to the employee. CNBC reported on July 2 that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were among firms adding matching contributions for workers.

How the money is taxed

The accounts are built on the individual retirement account framework, so earnings grow tax-deferred. The tax treatment of what goes in depends on the source. According to explainers from Fidelity and the Bipartisan Policy Center, contributions from individuals are made with after-tax dollars, while the $1,000 federal seed, employer contributions, and money from states or charities are fully taxable when withdrawn, along with the account's earnings.

A primer from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research notes that this treatment can make the accounts less favorable for some families than existing options such as 529 college-savings plans or Roth accounts, because gains are taxed as ordinary income on withdrawal rather than escaping tax. The Treasury Department, which titled a June release "Trump Accounts: The Defining Policy of America's 250th Anniversary," has promoted the accounts as a way to start long-term savings for children early in life.

The money is meant to stay in the account through childhood, and the rules on withdrawals and permitted uses follow the retirement-account structure the law sets out.