Contributions to Trump Accounts Will Not Trigger Gift Tax Filing Requirement

The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2026-25 (Rev. Proc. 2026-25) on June 29, 2026, regarding contributions to Trump accounts. Rev. Proc. 2026-25 creates a safe harbor that allows taxpayers to treat contributions to these accounts as present interest gifts. Under this guidance, qualifying taxpayers will not be required to file Form 709 simply because they contributed to a Trump account.

What Are Trump Accounts?

IRC Sec. 530A was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and creates what are commonly referred to as “Trump accounts.” These accounts allow parents, guardians, grandparents, or others to contribute up to $5,000 annually in the aggregate for children under the age of 18. The accounts generally function as IRAs, and the child gains control at the age of 18. Children born on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2029, will also receive a one-time deposit of $1,000 to a Trump account.

After the bill was passed, a drafting error was noted. While other accounts, like 529 plans, allow for contributions to be considered a present interest to qualify as an annual exclusion gift, the same treatment was not given to Trump accounts in the law. Accordingly, any contributions made to Trump accounts would have triggered a Form 709 gift tax return filing requirement, and would have reduced taxpayers’ lifetime exemption with each contribution.

What Does Rev. Proc. 2026-25 Do?

Revenue Procedure 2026-25 creates a transfer tax safe harbor for qualified individual donors to Trump accounts. Under the Rev. Proc., any contributions made by a qualified taxpayer will be considered a completed gift to the Trump account beneficiary and be treated as a present interest in property.

To be eligible for the safe harbor under the Rev. Proc., the following requirements must be met:

1. The taxpayer must be an individual,
2. The taxpayer’s only taxable gifts must be contributions to a Trump account (which would be considered taxable if not for the safe harbor),
3. The total gifts for each account beneficiary made by the taxpayer must be under the annual exclusion amount (currently, $19,000),
4. Contributions would not create a gift or generation skipping transfer tax liability after the application of taxpayer’s remaining applicable credit amount, and
5. No gift tax return is otherwise required to be filed by the taxpayer.

Rev. Proc. 2026-25 in Action

To illustrate, suppose Taxpayer A contributes $5,000 to X’s Trump account in 2026, and also makes a gift of $12,000 to X. The total gifts to X from Taxpayer A are $17,000, which is under the annual exclusion amount of $19,000. Taxpayer A is not required to file a gift tax return for their contributions. If Taxpayer A had given X an additional $14,500, however, Taxpayer A would have to report all gifts.

Requirement #3 requires special attention. Per Rev. Proc. 2026-25, this is an “all or nothing” situation. If any contribution must be reported as a gift, all contributions must be reported. Returning to the example above, if Taxpayer A also contributes $5,000 to Y’s Trump account in addition to the $5,000 contributed to X’s Trump account and the $14,500 gift, Taxpayer A would be required to report all $19,500 given to X as well as the $5,000 contribution for Y. Additionally, the gifts to the respective Trump accounts would revert to the treatment as a future interest instead of a present interest, meaning they would no longer be eligible for the annual exclusion amount and would reduce the taxpayer’s available exemption

Gift Splitting Treatment

Generally, married couples are allowed to avail themselves of what is known as “gift-splitting.” When elected, a couple may treat a gift that is over the annual exclusion amount as made by both spouses, thereby reducing the gift. For example, if one spouse gifts $20,000 to someone, the gift is treated as being made $10,000 by one spouse and $10,000 by the other. You must file a Form 709 to elect this treatment.

While the Rev. Proc. 2026-25 does not explicitly contemplate gift-splitting and how contributions shall be treated for married taxpayers, it can be assumed that the general rules related to gift-splitting will apply. Under the guidance, if you are required to file a gift tax return to elect gift-splitting, any contributions to Trump accounts will be treated as future interests under requirement #5.

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