Shares given to a child’s Trump Account come with a sale restriction attached. Under temporary Treasury regulations in effect since September 30, qualified stock placed in an account may not be sold before the earlier of two dates: five years after the contribution, or the end of the child’s growth period, which closes on December 31 of the year the child turns 17.
The restriction is written as a minimum holding period for the account, not as a penalty window for the person who gave the shares. It matters most for relatives and institutions weighing a gift of stock instead of cash into accounts that Treasury says now exist for more than 60 million children.
Only public, domestic, unrestricted shares qualify
The regulation text defines qualified stock as stock that is publicly traded, issued by a domestic corporation, and not subject to any pre-existing transfer restrictions, such as being a restricted security. Stock in a private company, a foreign issuer or a block already under a lock-up does not meet that definition.
The rule treats a qualified stock contribution as one kind of qualified general contribution. During the growth period, an auto account may accept only qualified general contributions, including qualified stock contributions, and the $1,000 pilot program contribution. A Treasury acceptance agreement for a class gift includes, where it applies, information about the qualified stock.
Whichever date comes first ends the lock
The wording is precise: qualified stock may not be sold before the earlier of the date that is five years after the contribution and the end of the growth period for the account beneficiary. That growth period begins when the child’s initial Trump Account is established and ends on December 31 of the calendar year in which the child reaches age 17.
The two clocks can produce different results, and the arithmetic follows from the text. Shares contributed in 2026 for a child born in 2020 would be restricted until 2031, because five years arrives long before the end of 2037. Shares contributed in 2026 for a child born in 2010 would be released at the close of 2027, the year that child turns 17, well short of five years. For older children, then, the headline figure of five years overstates the lock.
A child already close to the cutoff shows the effect most sharply. Shares contributed in 2026 for a child born in 2009, who turns 17 in 2026, would be restricted only until December 31, 2026, because the growth period ends that day. Shares contributed in 2026 for a child born that same year would be restricted until 2031, with the growth period running to the end of 2043.
Nothing in the holding period sets a price. The stock can rise or fall while it is held, and the restriction governs only when shares may be disposed of.
Four situations in which a sale is allowed
The regulation carves out narrow exceptions to the ban. Qualified stock may be disposed of to carry out a qualified ABLE rollover, to handle fractional shares arising in a rollover contribution, to accept a tender offer at the direction of the responsible party, and when the issuer of the stock is acquired for cash, whether by merger, purchase or otherwise.
Those four are the only disposals the quoted text permits ahead of the earlier-of date. Ordinary selling to rebalance or raise cash is not among them.
A trustee must buy back shares sold in violation
The enforcement mechanism sits with the account’s trustee rather than the family. If qualified stock is disposed of in violation of the holding period, the trustee must repurchase the same number of shares of the same class that were sold or otherwise disposed of, as soon as practicable.
The assets are not held in a separate brokerage account for each child. They are invested collectively through a master group trust, with each auto account holding an undivided proportionate beneficial interest, with separate account-level records kept for each account.
Temporary text, with permanent rules still being drafted
The regulations are temporary, applicable to taxable years beginning January 1, 2026, and they expire on September 30, 2029. A companion proposed rule published the same day takes written comments and requests for a public hearing until November 30, 2026, so the permanent wording of the holding period could still change.
The Federal Register document identifies Isaac Stein, in the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel for Employee Benefits, Exempt Organizations, and Employment Taxes, as the person to contact about the regulations, at (202) 317-6320. The five-year lock itself rests on a single sentence in that document, and the earlier-of language there is the controlling text.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
David M. Keller is a finance writer based in Columbus, Ohio, covering personal finance and consumer-focused economic topics. He earned his degree in journalism from Ohio University and began his career reporting on local business and economic trends for a regional media outlet. Since then, he has contributed to a variety of online publications, focusing on clear, practical coverage of topics such as cost of living, debt, and everyday financial decision-making.
