On September 30, 2026, Treasury and the IRS published temporary regulations (TD 10056) reversing an earlier position and authorizing broad automatic enrollment in Trump accounts. On or about October 1, the Secretary elected to open an account for every eligible child with a Social Security number for whom nobody had already opened one.
Treasury estimates this raises the number of children holding Trump accounts in 2026 by more than 60 million, and that the rules affect 73 million children in 44 million families. If you have a child or grandchild under 18, an account almost certainly exists in their name right now — and what it can do is narrower than most coverage suggests.
An "Auto Account" Is a Restricted Account
The regulations create a category called an auto account — an initial Trump account opened by the Secretary rather than a parent. During the growth period, it may accept only two things:
- Qualified general contributions, meaning money routed through Treasury from a government or nonprofit funding an entire qualified class of children
- The $1,000 pilot program contribution under §6434 — but only if an election was already made
That list is exhaustive. An auto account cannot accept contributions from parents, grandparents, or friends toward the $5,000 annual limit, nor the §128 employer contributions of up to $2,500 an employer may make for an employee's dependent. After the growth period, it generally cannot accept contributions at all.
Treasury Cannot Claim the $1,000 for You
The regulations state plainly that the Secretary cannot make the pilot program election. Auto enrollment opens the account; it does not deliver the $1,000.
The pilot payment goes to U.S. citizens born in 2025 through 2028 who have a Social Security number and whom the electing individual expects to be their qualifying child under §152(c). Someone has to make that election — the IRS will not infer it from an auto account's existence.
The Investment Is Pooled and Not Yours to Direct
An auto account's sole investment is an undivided proportionate interest in a master group trust structured under Rev. Rul. 81-100. Treasury picked the holdings. Account-level records track each child's share, but there is no fund selection — the pooling exists so the trustee can trade without exposing each child's return information.
Claiming Has Two Steps, and People Will Miss the Second
A guardian or legal custodian with authority over the child's property — or the beneficiary at the age of majority — claims the account through a Treasury web application. Because the account's existence is itself protected return information under §6103, verification is more extensive than Form 4547 requires, including a separate §6103(c) consent.
Then the part that trips people: filing a claim does not establish the receiving account. The claimed account must be activated — the account agreement signed per the trustee's instructions — before the balance transfers. Until then the money stays put and anyone else may file a competing claim. Where multiple claims exist, the responsible party becomes the first person who activates, not the first to file.
Practical Takeaways
- Enrollment is not funding. If your child was born 2025–2028, confirm a pilot program election was actually made.
- Claim before you contribute. An unclaimed auto account cannot accept family money, or a §128 employer contribution.
- Finish the activation. A filed claim with no signed account agreement leaves the balance stranded and the account contestable.
- Unfunded accounts close. An auto account that receives nothing is closed after the growth period, which ends December 31 of the year the child turns 17.
The temporary regulations expire September 30, 2029.
Sources: Treasury Decision 10056, "Trump Accounts," 91 FR 61705 (September 30, 2026), RIN 1545-BS27; Temp. Reg. §1.530A-1T and §1.530A-7T; IRC §530A, §128, §6434, §6103; Rev. Rul. 81-100; IRS Notice 2025-68, Q&A A-10