Comments on the Treasury Department and IRS proposal defining “eligible investments” for Trump accounts close Tuesday, Oct. 20. The notice of proposed rulemaking (FR Doc. 2026-17123, 91 FR 54280, Aug. 21, 2026) governs what a child’s account may hold during its first stretch of life, the “growth period” that ends on Dec. 31 of the year the beneficiary turns 17.
Two other entries share the week. A final rule letting the IRS take card payments directly takes effect Monday, Oct. 19. And Treasury has noticed a Nov. 3 meeting of its Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, the private-sector panel it consults before deciding how to finance a federal debt that stood at $40.39 trillion on Oct. 15.
1. What the proposal governs
The proposal would add Sec. 1.530A-3 to the income tax regulations. Its own summary states the stakes plainly.
The proposed regulations would provide guidance regarding eligible investments, which are the only assets in which Trump account funds may be invested before the first day of the calendar year in which the account beneficiary attains age 18.
EXCERPT · Treasury-IRS notice of proposed rulemaking, 91 FR 54280, Summary
A Trump account is a traditional (non-Roth) IRA created by section 70204 of Public Law 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025. During the growth period, special rules govern contributions, investments, distributions and reporting. After it, the traditional IRA rules of section 408 generally take over, and the investment restriction falls away.
Much of the screen is already written into the Internal Revenue Code. Section 530A(b)(3) sets the tests below.
| Test | What section 530A(b)(3) requires |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | A mutual fund or exchange traded fund |
| Benchmark | Tracks the returns of a qualified index |
| Leverage | Does not use leverage |
| Cost | Annual fees and expenses of no more than 0.1 percent of the balance invested |
| Qualified index | The S&P 500, or another index of equities in primarily US companies with regulated futures traded on a qualified board or exchange |
| Excluded | Any industry or sector-specific index; market-capitalization indexes are allowed |
| Open-ended | “Such other criteria as the Secretary determines appropriate” |
That last line is where the rulemaking lives. The proposal rests on the express delegation in section 530A(b)(3)(A)(iv) to add criteria a fund must meet, and on section 530A(g)(3), which requires Treasury to weigh the costs a trustee imposes when it selects the trustee for accounts Treasury itself sets up.
Congress wrote the index-fund screen. This rule decides what Treasury adds to it.
2. Who decides next
Treasury and the IRS. Written or electronic comments, and any request for a public hearing, must be received by Oct. 20. The docket on regulations.gov is filed under IRS and CC-00349938-26; the agencies say comments cannot be edited or withdrawn once submitted and will be made public. After the window closes, the agencies weigh the record and decide whether to finalize the rules, with or without changes. The notice sets no date for a final rule.
This is the third proposed rule in the series. On March 9, 2026, the agencies proposed general account requirements (REG-117270-25, 91 FR 11194) and rules for electing the $1,000 pilot contribution (REG-117002-25, 91 FR 11203). Comments on the earlier Notice 2025-68 closed Feb. 20, 2026, and the agencies “anticipate proposing other rules under section 530A at a future date.” Background on enrollment and the seed payment is in gov.house’s Oct. 5 file on Trump Accounts.
3. Card payments: in force Monday
The final rule, TD 10060 (91 FR 65980), applies to tax payments and reimbursement fees made on or after Oct. 19, 2026. It lets the IRS pay a card-processing fee under contract only if the full amount is recouped from the cardholder. The agencies also stated that the regulations “do not actually implement any particular payment process or contract.” The details are in gov.house’s Oct. 17 file.
4. Treasury’s borrowing advisers, behind closed doors
The meeting notice (FR Doc. 2026-21270, 91 FR 66200, Oct. 19) sets the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee for Nov. 3, 2026, at 10:45 a.m. at the Treasury building in Washington. The stated agenda is broad: “topics related to the economy, financial markets, Treasury financing, and debt management.” After a working session, the committee presents a written report of its recommendations.
The public is excluded. The notice argues that Treasury “requires frank and full advice from representatives of the financial community prior to making its final decisions on major financing operations,” and that premature disclosure “would be likely to lead to significant financial speculation in the securities market.” It also concedes the advice is not binding: the final financing announcement “may not reflect the recommendations.”
That is the committee’s role in the quarterly refunding cycle. Treasury decides auction sizes and the mix of bills, notes and bonds; the committee, drawn from the financial industry, tells it what the market can absorb. The more likely reading is that the November report will be read for any shift in that mix, since the financing need keeps growing.
5. What to watch
- Oct. 19: TD 10060 takes effect for card payments made on or after that date.
- Oct. 20: comments and public-hearing requests on the Trump account eligible-investment proposal are due.
- Nov. 3, 10:45 a.m.: closed Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee meeting, followed by its written report.
- Nov. 12: Monthly Treasury Statement for October, the first full month of fiscal 2027.
- Date not set: final Trump account investment rules, and further section 530A proposals the agencies say are coming.
- Guidance on Eligible Investments for Trump Accounts (proposed rule, FR Doc. 2026-17123) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
- Debt Management Advisory Committee Meeting (notice, FR Doc. 2026-21270) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
- Regulations Regarding Payment of Tax by Commercially Acceptable Means (TD 10060) — Federal Register · federalregister.gov
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