The proposed regulations provide that the election to open an initial Trump Account must be made by an authorized individual on Form 4547, Trump Account Election(s) or through the online Form 4547: Trump Account Election Form – IRS Form 4547 in accordance with applicable instructions. An election to open an initial Trump Account must be made on or before December 31 of the calendar year in which the eligible individual attains age 17.

The election form also provides an opportunity for the authorized individual to request the $1,000 pilot program contribution from the Secretary for an eligible child (under section 6434 of the Internal Revenue Code).

The instructions to Form 4547 are currently available on IRS.gov. The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have sought to make the election process as simple and frictionless as possible by permitting individuals to file a one-page Form 4547 at the time of filing their tax return or in a separate online portal: Trump Account Election Form – IRS Form 4547.

If an election for the $1,000 pilot program contribution is being made at the same time as the election to open the initial Trump Account, the authorized individual is the individual able to make the election for a pilot program contribution.

If no election for a pilot program contribution is being made at the same time as the election to open an initial Trump Account, a different rule applies for determining who is an authorized individual. Under the proposed ordering rule for who may make the election, the authorized individual would be, in order of priority:

  • a legal guardian,
  • parent,
  • adult sibling, then
  • grandparent of the eligible individual.

 Responsible party for the Trump Account:

In general, the individual who makes the election to open an initial Trump Account for an eligible individual will be the responsible party of the initial Trump Account. The responsible party generally will have the authority, while the account beneficiary does not have legal capacity, to select among eligible investments (if more than one eligible investment is offered), request a qualified rollover contribution to a rollover Trump Account, request a transfer for a qualified ABLE rollover contribution (subject to certain rules), or select a successor responsible party for the account.