IRS issues temporary Trump account rules; employer contribution rules still proposed
The rules took effect September 30, while guidance on what employers may contribute sits in a separate August proposal.
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Midwatch Radar Updated
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The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department published temporary regulations on Trump accounts in the Federal Register on September 30, 2026, effective that day [1]. A Trump account is the law’s name for an individual retirement account (IRA) with some special rules [1]. The regulations cover general requirements for the accounts, how an initial account is established, including automatic enrollment by the Treasury Secretary, and a type of contribution called a qualified general contribution [1].
The accounts come from Public Law 119-21, known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act [1]. The document says contributions could first be made on July 4, 2026 [1]. It also describes a pilot program under which Treasury will pay $1,000 into the accounts of eligible children, a group that includes U.S. citizens born in 2025 through 2028 who meet the listed conditions [1].
For employers, the law added section 128 of the tax code, which says employers may contribute to the Trump account of an employee or an employee’s dependent [1]. Those contributions are excluded from the employee’s income up to $2,500 a year, adjusted for inflation for taxable years after 2027, and they count toward a $5,000 annual contribution limit [1].
The employer rules are in a separate proposal. The IRS published proposed regulations on August 11, 2026 on employer contributions to Trump accounts, including nondiscrimination rules, which limit how a benefit can favor certain employees [1]. The September 30 document says future guidance will address other issues [1].
- $2,500Annual limit on employer contributions excluded from an employee’s income, adjusted for inflation after 2027[1]
- $5,000Annual contribution limit that employer contributions count toward[1]
- $1,000Pilot program payment Treasury will make to eligible children’s accounts[1]
- July 4, 2026Date the document says contributions could first be made[1]
The employer piece is optional. The law says employers may contribute, and no source describes a requirement to do so [1]. A business that wants to offer the benefit would be working from proposed rules, because the August 11 proposal has not been finalized in the September 30 document.
The document’s summary says the temporary rules affect trustees, account beneficiaries, responsible parties and donors who fund qualified general contributions. Employers are not in that list [1]. The nondiscrimination tests in the August proposal bear on how an employer could structure a contribution, and those tests are not yet final.
- Final regulations on employer contributions under section 128. The September 30 document gives no date for them [1].
- Further guidance on other parts of the Trump account rules, which the document says is coming without a date [1].
- Rules on what Trump account money can be invested in. The IRS published a separate proposal on that topic on August 21, 2026 [1].