530A rules and limits

Current eligibility, contribution, investment, withdrawal, and tax rules with source links.

Eligibility and the two deposits

The account itself has just two requirements: the child must be a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number, and enrollment must happen by the year before they turn 18 (every cohort's exact date is in our deadlines table). The $1,000 Treasury seed is limited to children born January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028 and must be elected on Form 4547. It is deposited after the IRS confirms eligibility and the account is activated. The $250 Dell Foundation gift covers the older 2016–2024 cohort, subject to a ZIP-code income test. A child who qualifies for neither deposit can still have the account. Use the eligibility checker, then see the deposit status guide if approved funding is not showing.

Contributions: one limit, shared by everyone

The $5,000 annual limit combines personal and Section 128 employer contributions. It is not a separate limit for each contributor. Personal deposits generally create after-tax basis. Under a qualifying employer program, up to $2,500 per employee across all dependents can be excluded from the employee's income, but each deposit still uses part of the receiving child's $5,000 cap. The $1,000 pilot deposit and qualifying government or nonprofit class contributions made through Treasury are exempt. The limit is indexed for inflation after 2027. IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-25 also provides a gift-tax safe harbor for qualifying personal contributions when all of its requirements are met.

Investments and fees

Funds are invested by default in an S&P 500 index ETF (SPYM) with a 0.02% expense ratio, or about $2 a year per $10,000 invested. There is no account activation or maintenance fee. Eligible investments must track a broad index of primarily U.S. companies, avoid leverage, and keep annual fees and expenses at or below 0.1%. Treasury has announced additional low-cost U.S. index ETFs for the account menu. Balances can rise or fall with the stock market.

The official administrator says assets are held in a dedicated trust, transactions clear through DTCC, and eligible securities and cash receive SIPC protection up to applicable limits, currently $500,000 including a $250,000 cash limit. SIPC does not protect against market losses or guarantee an investment’s value. Review the official investing FAQ and the account agreements for the custody terms that apply to your account.

The lock, and what happens at 18

Ordinary withdrawals, loans, and hardship distributions are not permitted before January 1 of the year the child turns 18. Limited exceptions include qualifying account transfers, correction of excess contributions, death, and a full trustee-to-trustee transfer to an eligible ABLE account during the year the child turns 17. After the growth period, control transfers to the child and traditional IRA rules generally apply. See the complete withdrawal rules.

Taxes

Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income at the child's rate, minus after-tax basis. Basis is the amount that was already taxed before it entered the account. Growth, the federal seed, and some gift deposits may be taxable. Keep contribution records so you can document the basis. The administrator says it will issue Form 5498-TA for reportable contributions and Form 1099-R for reportable distributions. Use the tax estimator for a basic estimate, or compare the account with a 529, custodial Roth, or custodial brokerage account.

Where these rules come from

530A accounts, created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and officially marketed by the federal government as "Trump Accounts," launched July 4, 2026. The authoritative sources are IRS.gov, Treasury.gov, and the official federal portal. Rules change; this page carries a last-verified date in the footer, and every revision is logged in our updates changelog. Where anything here conflicts with official guidance, official guidance controls.