Why TurboTax Is Asking You to Open Trump Accounts for Your Kids in 2026

By Editor-in-Chief, Timothy Gocklin, MBA, MSF

As you were working through your taxes with TurboTax this year, you might have seen a prompt asking you to enroll your child in a Trump Account. But it is not a tax refund for your kid. Instead, it is a brand new kind of investment account that can help your kid begin building wealth at a young age.

A Trump Account is a long-term savings and investment account that can be opened for a child under the age of 18. It is similar to an IRA type savings account but tailored to kids. The money in a Trump Account grows tax deferred. In other words, you do not have to pay taxes on the investment returns that year as long as the money stays in the account.

The Trump Account was created as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping change in the tax code that President Trump signed in 2025. There are a lot of different changes in the tax code as part of this new law.

Because of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, you were asked about a Trump Account as you were filing your taxes with TurboTax because part of filing your taxes with TurboTax now lets you elect to open a Trump Account with a special form provided by the IRS.

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In order to open a Trump Account, the child must be under the age of 18 when the election is made. The child must have a valid Social Security number. Any parent or guardian can open a Trump Account for a child. Accounts can also be opened for young people under the age of 18, even if they do not qualify for the seed money, as long as they meet these requirements.

One of the biggest headlines surrounding Trump Accounts is that the U.S. government is going to put a seed contribution of $1,000 into the accounts of newborn babies. If your child is born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, is a U.S. citizen, and has a Social Security number, they will get a one time payment of $1,000 into their Trump Account from the U.S. Treasury. This does not count as income for tax purposes for your family. If you want to get this seed money for your child, you simply need to choose to open a Trump Account as part of doing your taxes, and TurboTax can help you do that using Form 4547. If your child is born before 2025, a Trump Account can still be opened for them, but they will not get the seed money.

Several large banks, such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, even match that amount of money for employees of those banks, so if they work for one of those banks, they can get even more money into their accounts.

Once a child’s Trump Account is opened, additional money can also be contributed into it. Parents, guardians, family members, and friends can put up to $5,000 into a child’s account every year. Employers can put up to $2,500 into a child’s account every year for an employee’s child. The money can be invested in low cost U.S. stock index funds. The child cannot access the money until they are 18 years old, at which time they can use the money for their college education, a down payment on a house, a business, or any other financial goal.

Trump Accounts represent a new way for people to begin building their children’s future, especially in an era in which the cost of a college education and the cost of living continue to rise. While they are not a substitute for other types of savings vehicles, they represent a new option that can begin at birth. By signing up with TurboTax, you are, in effect, beginning the process of getting one of these accounts started for your child and potentially getting that $1,000 contribution from the government if they were born during that window.

Sources

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/childs-income/trump-accounts
https://www.irs.gov/trumpaccounts
https://trumpaccounts.gov
https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/savings/the-1000-head-start-is-your-child-eligible-for-the-new-savings-account-133278/
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/trump-accounts
https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i4547
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_Beautiful_Bill_Act
https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/citi-announces-match-program-government-contribution-trump-accounts-2026-02-05/
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/bofa-match-us-governments-pilot-contribution-trump-accounts-memo-says-2026-01-28/
https://apnews.com/article/1831095c23ead75b67edc65ead5309fd