Voluntary Tax Withholding on Selling I Bonds at TreasuryDirect (2024)

FAQs

Will TreasuryDirect withhold taxes? ›

If we hold your securities, we can ease your tax burden by withholding taxes for you during the year. Each time we pay interest, we can withhold part of the interest for taxes.

U.S. Retirement Plan or U.S. Individual Retirement Bonds

The redemption proceeds of United States Retirement Plan Bonds or Individual Retirement Bonds you have submitted for redemption are subject to Federal income tax withholding unless you elect not to have withholding apply.

Is interest income from I bonds taxed as capital gains? No, the interest income earned from I bonds is not considered a capital gain and is therefore taxed differently. Instead, it is taxed as regular income at the federal level and exempt from state and local taxes.

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.

Securities purchased through TreasuryDirect cannot be sold in the secondary market before they mature. This lack of liquidity could be a disadvantage for investors who may need to access their investment capital before the securities' maturity.

Go to your TreasuryDirect account. Select the ManageDirect tab. Under "Manage My Taxes", choose the relevant year. Near the top of your "Taxable Transaction Summary", choose the link to view your 1099.

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.

You must hold I bonds for at least one year before redeeming them. But if you cash them in less than five years, you lose the last three months of interest. There's no maximum holding period for I bonds. And they'll continue to earn interest until they reach maturity 30 years from their issue date.

We put a 1099 into your TreasuryDirect account if: You cash a savings bond in TreasuryDirect. (We don't provide a 1099 if you only buy or hold a savings bond.) You hold a marketable security in TreasuryDirect and the security earns 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.

Are treasury bonds taxed as capital gains? ›

If you buy a bond when it is issued and hold it until maturity, you generally won't have a capital gain or loss. However, if you sell the bond before its maturity date for more than you paid for it, you'll typically have a capital gain. If you sell it for less than you paid for it, you'll usually have a capital loss.

[the other choice is to pay the income tax on the interest each year, even though the interest is not received until the bond is redeemed]. As a result, when inheritors redeem inherited bonds on which the tax has been deferred, they will owe tax on all the interest that has accumulated.

Taxable bank or brokerage accounts: In most instances, taxes are not withheld from capital gains, distributions, or other income generated from such accounts.

Interest from Treasuries is generally taxable at the federal level, but not at the state level. Interest from munis is generally exempt from federal taxes, and if you live in the state where the bond was issued, the interest may also be exempt from state taxes.

The initial yield is only good for the first six months you own the bond. After that, the investment acts like any other variable vehicle, meaning rates could go down and you have no control over it. And if you wait until, say, 2026 to buy an I bond, the initial rate could be well below current levels.

TreasuryDirect requires Treasury marketable securities be held for 45 days following original issue before they may be transferred. 4-Week Bills bought at original issue in TreasuryDirect may not be transferred at all because the term of the security is less than 45 days.