★Trump Account Election Assistant
Helps you prepare Form 4547 to open a child's Trump Account — not an IRS or Treasury product
Preparation tool only
Why we built this
The $1,000 Trump Account contribution is supposed to be available to every eligible child. But every online way to claim it — trumpaccounts.gov, your IRS Online Account — requires ID.me: a current passport or driver's license, a smartphone with a working camera, and a live selfie scan.
That quietly shuts out a lot of people who could use $1,000 the most: someone whose ID lapsed and hasn't had the time or money to renew it, a veteran who's already run into this exact wall at the VA, a grandparent raising a grandchild without a smartphone, a family in a rural area without reliable enough internet for a video verification call.
The honest truth: mailing the paper form has always been free, and it's always avoided ID.me — that's not a secret we're selling. What actually stops people is the form itself: dense, unlabeled, easy to get wrong. That's the part we fix — so the people this account is genuinely meant to help don't get shut out a second time by a confusing piece of paper.
One thing we want you to be clear on: filing without ID.me gets your child enrolled and eligible for the $1,000 now — it doesn't necessarily mean you'll never deal with ID.me at all. Activating the account later, to actually access or manage it, appears to use the same ID.me-verified login as the online filing paths. That's a real, separate step, at a later time. What mailing the form does is let people who can't get through ID.me today — an expired ID, no working camera, a failed verification attempt — secure their child's spot anyway, instead of being locked out of the program entirely. That's the honest benefit: enrollment now, without a barrier that might otherwise stop you from applying at all.
Form 4547 opens a Trump Account for your child and can request the government's $1,000 starter contribution. This tool walks you through it in plain language, then hands you a clean, ready-to-copy sheet for the actual form. Specifically, you'll get:
A step-by-step walkthrough of every field the real form asks for, for one or two children
A plain-language check of whether your child is eligible — before you spend time filling anything in
A summary of the $5,000/year contribution limit and how the money is taxed
A printable worksheet laid out to match the official form, so transcribing it over takes minutes
Clear instructions for where to actually file — by mail, with your e-filed return, or through the free government portal
$7 one-time, per worksheet
Pay securely via Stripe, then check your email for a one-time access code. This tool is a preparation aid only — it doesn't file anything with the IRS for you.
Takes about 5 minutes • Works for 1 or 2 children • Nothing you type is ever sent to a server
What to have ready before you start
Having these on hand makes the 5 minutes go faster:
Your Social Security number and your child's (Social Security card, if you're not sure of the exact number)
Your child's date of birth
Your current mailing address
If a second child is involved: the same info for them
Already paid?
That code wasn't recognized, or it's already been used. Check your email, or contact us below.
Eligibility — check before you pay
To open a Trump account for a child, they must:
Be under 18 as of December 31 of the year you're filing for — in practice, this means anytime from birth through the year before your child turns 18
Have a Social Security number that's valid for employment, issued before you file
Not already have a Trump account opened elsewhere (each child can only have one)
To also get the $1,000 government pilot contribution, the child must additionally:
Have been born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028
Be a U.S. citizen
Be expected to be claimed as your qualifying child for the tax year you're filing
Not have had a prior pilot contribution election made for them
Who's allowed to file (in priority order): legal guardian, then parent, then adult sibling, then grandparent — but if you're also requesting the $1,000, it generally has to be whoever expects to claim the child as a dependent that year, typically a parent.
This is a summary, not the full rule set — the official instructions have the complete eligibility details. If your child doesn't qualify for the $1,000, you can still open the account without it.
Pulled directly from the IRS's official Instructions for Form 4547 (Rev. December 2025). This is the full rule set — everything below is here so you don't have to go find it elsewhere.
Who the account can be opened for
Under 18 at the end of the year the election is made
Has a valid SSN issued before the election is made (see SSN rules below)
Has not already had a Trump account election filed for them by anyone else
What counts as a valid SSN
Must be issued by the Social Security Administration before the election
If the child was a U.S. citizen when they received it, it's automatically valid for employment
If the card says "Not Valid for Employment" but the child's status has since changed to citizen or permanent resident, they need a replacement card first
If it says "Valid for Work Only with DHS Authorization," it's only valid as long as that DHS authorization stays active
Who's allowed to file (authorized individual)
If you're only opening the account (not requesting the $1,000): priority order is legal guardian, then parent, then adult sibling, then grandparent. Whoever is highest on that list and available can file; if nobody higher exists, the next person down can.
If you're also requesting the $1,000 pilot contribution: the rule changes — it must be someone who expects the child to be their tax-qualifying child for that year. In practice this is almost always a parent or guardian, not a sibling or grandparent. (If filing with a 2025 return, you don't have to have already claimed the child as a dependent on that return.)
$1,000 pilot program contribution — additional requirements
Expected to be the filer's qualifying child for that tax year
Born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028
No prior pilot contribution already processed for this child
U.S. citizen
Valid SSN (see above)
If your child doesn't qualify for the $1,000, you can — and still should — file Form 4547 to open the account itself. Just don't check the pilot-contribution box.
Ongoing contribution limits
$5,000 per year cap (subject to cost-of-living adjustments after 2027) on contributions from parents, the child, or other sources
The $1,000 pilot contribution, qualified rollovers, and certain government/charity contributions do not count against that $5,000 cap
Employer contributions specifically are capped at $2,500/year, and do count toward the $5,000 total
No contributions of any kind — from anyone — are allowed before July 4, 2026
How contributions are taxed
Contributions aren't taxed as income to the child when made
Money from parents, the child, or other individual sources creates "basis" — already-taxed money that isn't taxed again on withdrawal
The $1,000 pilot money, employer contributions, and qualified government/charity contributions do not create basis
No one gets a tax deduction for contributing
Growth period & withdrawals
Runs from when the account opens until December 31 of the year before the child turns 18
During that time: investments are limited to certain index funds/ETFs, and withdrawals are locked except for rollovers, an ABLE-account rollover at age 17, excess-contribution corrections, or death
Once the child turns 18, it converts to normal traditional IRA rules — including a possible 10% early-withdrawal penalty unless an exception applies (education expenses, first home purchase, etc.)
Filing logistics
Can be filed any time, including alongside your tax return
If filing on paper, your signature must be handwritten — typed, digital, or electronic signatures aren't valid on a paper-filed Form 4547
If someone else signs on your behalf, they need a Power of Attorney (Form 2848) attached
More than two children — attach additional copies of Form 4547, covering two children per form
Don't attach it to a Form 1040-X, and don't amend a return just to add it
Opening the account and requesting the $1,000 is just the start — you (or anyone) can keep contributing after that. A few things worth knowing:
Annual limit: total contributions from all sources combined (parents, other family, the child's own earnings) are generally capped around $5,000 per year, per child — subject to a cost-of-living adjustment starting in 2028. The $1,000 federal pilot contribution is separate and doesn't count against this cap.
Growth is tax-deferred while the money's in the account, similar to a traditional IRA.
What counts as "basis": money that you or the child contribute directly has already been taxed, so it isn't taxed again on withdrawal later. The $1,000 government pilot money, and certain employer or charitable contributions, don't create basis the same way — that distinction matters once withdrawals start.
Withdrawals are locked until January 1 of the year the child turns 18, with narrow exceptions (a rollover to another Trump account, an ABLE-account rollover at age 17, correcting an excess contribution, or the child's death). After 18, it converts to normal traditional IRA rules — including a possible 10% early-withdrawal penalty on money taken out before retirement age, unless an exception applies (like qualified education expenses or a first home).
Gift tax: because the child can't touch the money until 18, contributions could technically count as a "future interest" gift, which normally wouldn't qualify for the annual gift-tax exclusion ($19,000 per recipient for 2026). The IRS addressed this directly with a safe harbor (Revenue Procedure 2026-25): cash contributions from an individual, made before the year the child turns 18, are treated as completed gifts eligible for the exclusion — if your total gifts to that child for the year (including the Trump Account contribution) stay under $19,000, and you don't otherwise need to file a gift tax return that year. Miss any one of those conditions and the whole year's contributions to that child can lose the safe harbor, not just the amount over the limit — so this is worth getting right rather than assuming it's automatic.
This is general information, not personalized tax advice — this is a brand-new account type and the rules are still being filled in with additional IRS guidance. Talk to a tax professional about your specific situation, especially around contribution timing and the gift tax rules.
Common questions
Isn't there a free way to do this directly with the government?
Two, actually. trumpaccounts.gov and your IRS Online Account both offer free, guided electronic filing — but both require ID.me identity verification just to submit the form: a current passport or driver's license, a smartphone with a working camera, and a live selfie scan. There's a third free way that skips ID.me at that filing step: mailing the paper Form 4547 yourself. All three are completely legitimate. One thing to know regardless of which you pick: activating the account later — actually accessing or managing it — appears to require an ID.me login too. Mailing the form doesn't get you out of that; it lets you enroll and secure your child's eligibility now, even if you can't get through ID.me today.
So why would I pay $7 for this instead of just mailing it myself for free?
Because the paper form itself is the hard part. It's dense, the fields aren't clearly labeled, and it's easy to get something wrong on something you're signing under penalty of perjury. We built this for people who can't get through ID.me today — an expired ID, no working camera, a failed verification attempt, unreliable internet — and would otherwise be shut out of even applying. Filing by mail gets your child enrolled and eligible for the $1,000 now; you can sort out ID.me later, on your own timeline, when it comes to activating the account. You're paying to make that free filing path usable, not to avoid identity verification forever.
Do I need a passport or ID to mail this in?
No — not to file. The form itself doesn't ask for a photo ID anywhere, just your Social Security number, your address, and your handwritten signature. Later, activating the account to actually access it appears to require going through ID.me, the same as the online filing paths do. Mailing the form gets your child enrolled without that barrier now; it doesn't remove the barrier from the process entirely.
What if English isn't my first language and I get stuck?
Email us. We'll do our best to help you through whatever part is confusing, in plain terms — that's exactly the kind of thing this tool exists for.
Is this an official IRS tool?
No. This is an independent worksheet tool. You still file Form 4547 yourself, directly with the IRS.
Do you see my child's SSN?
No. Everything you type into the worksheet stays in your browser only — it's never sent to any server, including ours.
What am I actually paying for?
A guided worksheet that organizes your information into a clean, printable summary to check against the official form — not a filing service.
This tool is built and run by Kyle Knight, an independent preparer — not the IRS, not TurboTax, not affiliated with trumpaccounts.gov. It exists because the people who most need this $1,000 shouldn't lose out on it over a confusing form and an identity-verification wall.
Not satisfied? Email within 7 days and we'll refund your purchase, minus Stripe's small non-refundable processing fee (about 50 cents) — no questions asked about why.
What this does: this tool helps you organize the information Form 4547 asks for and produces a printable worksheet you can check against the official form. It does not file anything with the IRS. You still submit Form 4547 yourself — with your e-filed tax return, by mail, or through your IRS Online Account.
The numbers you'll see next to fields — like 2 or 5a — are the actual line numbers from the real Form 4547. Part II and Part III of the official form are numbered; Part I isn't, so those fields are matched by label instead. When you get to the real form, just find the matching number and copy the value straight across.