Cash EE or I savings bonds — TreasuryDirect (2024)

FAQs

How do I cash a savings bond on TreasuryDirect? ›

You can get your cash for an EE or I savings bond any time after you have owned it for 1 year. However, the longer you hold the bond, the more it earns for you (for up to 30 years for an EE or I bond). Also, if you cash in the bond in less than 5 years, you lose the last 3 months of interest.

The process for selling your I Bonds is quite similar to how you bought your I Bonds. Log in to your TreasuryDirect account, select the bonds you want to cash, and follow the on-screen instructions. The money will be deposited directly into your linked bank account.

If you want full value, you should hold the Series EE bonds at least until maturity, and if you want extra, you can hold them until 30 years. But once 30 years have passed, it's a good idea to cash them in because you won't get any extra benefit.

If you have paper savings bonds, you can fill out the appropriate form and mail it and the bonds you want to cash to the Treasury Retail Securities Services — the address is listed on FS Form 1522. Additionally, you may be able to cash your paper savings bonds at your bank or credit union.

Key Takeaways. Interest from EE U.S. savings bonds is taxed at the federal level but not at the state or local levels for income. The interest that savings bonds earn is the amount that a bond can be redeemed for above its face value or original purchase price.

I cashed some Series E, Series EE, and Series I savings bonds. How do I report the interest? In general, you must report the interest in income in the taxable year in which you redeemed the bonds to the extent you did not include the interest in income in a prior taxable year.

If you hold savings bonds and redeem them with interest earned, that interest is subject to federal income tax and possibly federal gift taxes (highly unlikely as the per-person cap is $10,000 and the gift tax exemption is $17,000).

You just bought a security from the U.S. Treasury. Securities are generally issued to your account within two business days of the purchase date for savings bonds or within one week of the auction date for Bills, Notes, Bonds, FRNs, and TIPS.

How do I avoid taxes when cashing in savings bonds? ›

You can report the interest each year you earn it or when you cash the bond. You will report it on Schedule B of your 1040. You can avoid these taxes by using the money for qualified higher education expenses.

More flexible than a bank!

Note: We have 2 minimum requirements for cashing bonds: The bond must be at least 1 year old. If you cash only part of what a bond is worth, you must leave at least $25 in your account. You can cash your savings bonds in full or in part. (Paper bonds can only be cashed in full.)

Bottom line. I bonds, with their inflation-adjusted return, safeguard the investor's purchasing power during periods of high inflation. On the other hand, EE Bonds offer predictable returns with a fixed-interest rate and a guaranteed doubling of value if held for 20 years.

All Series EE bonds reach final maturity 30 years from issue. Series EE savings bonds purchased from May 1995 through April 1997 increase in value every six months.

We guarantee that the value of your new EE bond at 20 years will be double what you paid for it. (If you have an EE bond from before May 2005, it may be earning interest at a variable rate. See more at EE bonds.) We guarantee that the interest rate of an I bond will never fall below zero.

You can do this in a couple of ways: Cash out the bond at your local bank or via TreasuryDirect. You'll need to call your local bank to see if they cash out I bonds and their requirements for doing so. With TreasuryDirect, you can redeem your bonds in a few short steps: Do not sign the bonds.

To redeem your bill in TreasuryDirect you don't need to take action. If you do not provide instructions to deposit the security's principal into your C of I, we deposit the principal into your designated bank account. The deposit is made on the day your security matures.