How to Open a Trump Account and Claim the $1,000 Pilot Deposit

Your child was born in 2025 or later and you have heard that the government will put $1,000 into an account for them. The wrong assumption is that it happens on its own. Nothing is deposited until an adult files a one-page IRS election, and as of March 2026 only about one in four of the 4 million children signed up had the $1,000 box checked. The form is IRS Form 4547 and you can file it at any time, not only at tax time.

Check that the child qualifies

Any child under 18 at the end of the year with a Social Security number can have an account opened. The $1,000 pilot deposit is narrower. As of September 2026 the child must have been born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029, be a U.S. citizen, have a valid Social Security number, and be someone you expect to claim as a qualifying child on your tax return for the year you file the election. Only one pilot election per child is processed, so if the other parent already filed, stop here.

Fill in Form 4547

Download Form 4547, Trump Account Election(s) and keep the instructions open beside it. Part I is you: name, address, Social Security number. Part II is the child: name, relationship, address, Social Security number, and a box confirming you are an authorized individual. The instructions rank who may file as legal guardian, parent, adult sibling, then grandparent. Part III is the box that requests the $1,000 pilot contribution. It is not checked by default, so tick it if the child meets the birth window above. Part IV is your signature and the date.

File it with your return or on paper

The fastest route is to include the form in your e-filed federal return for the current year. Your software will produce Form 8879-TA as the e-file signature authorization for the election. If you file on paper, sign by hand and mail the form to the address for your return type on IRS.gov/PaperReturns. Do not attach it to Form 1040-X and do not amend an already filed return just to add it; the instructions say the election can be filed on its own at any time. The IRS says online elections are also available through trumpaccounts.gov from mid-2026.

Activate the account and start contributing

After the election is processed, the Treasury Department sends the person who filed it the information needed to activate the account, and that person becomes the responsible party who chooses the investments while the child is a minor. Contributions from family and employers opened on July 4, 2026 and are capped at $5,000 per child per year as of September 2026. The $1,000 pilot deposit does not count against that cap, and Treasury deposits it as soon as practicable after the account is open.

If you already filed your 2025 return without the form. Do not file an amended return. File Form 4547 by itself, on paper or with your next e-filed return, and check the Part III box.

If the child has no Social Security number yet. Wait. The number must be issued before the election date, and an election with a missing or pending number is not processed.

Sources. About Form 4547, Trump Account Election(s), Instructions for Form 4547, IRS release IR-2026-42 on 4 million sign-ups, Federal Register proposed rule on the pilot program.