Available Bonds To Buy ##HOT##
This option was available for the first time in early 2010. In 2011 improvements were made to give more registration options for owners and beneficiaries; you can elect direct deposit or a check in the mail for any unused portion of your refund.
available bonds to buy
Yes, you can. When you file your tax return, you can tell the IRS you want to save part or all of your refund and have the rest sent to your checking account. You can save part or all of your refund by submitting Form 8888, Allocation of Refund (Including Savings Bond Purchases)PDF when you file your return. Follow the instructions on Form 8888 to tell the IRS to make a direct deposit of the amount you designate to an IRA, to buy U.S. savings bonds, to make a direct deposit to a savings or checking account or other savings vehicles, or to request a paper check.
No, you don't need to open an account in advance with the Treasury Department. Complete and file the Form 8888 with your tax return. The IRS will arrange for your U.S. savings bonds to be mailed to you.
No, you don't need to have a bank account to purchase I bonds with your federal tax refund. If you purchase I bonds with your tax refund, you can elect to have any remaining refund amount not used to purchase bonds mailed to you as a paper check.
You can use all or part of your tax refund to purchase I bonds. Your request for bonds must be in increments of $50. Any remaining refund amount not used to purchase bonds will be mailed to you as a paper check or you may elect to have the remaining amount direct deposited into a checking or savings account.
Series I U.S. Savings Bonds are sold under this program. They are a low-risk, liquid savings product that earn interest and provide protection from inflation. Although savings bonds are not marketable in that they cannot be bought or sold in secondary security markets, they can be redeemed for principal and accrued earnings at any time after 12 months. See details below.
You can buy savings bonds in increments of $50. You buy them at face value, meaning if you pay $50 using your refund, you get a $50 savings bond. This calendar year, you can buy up to a total of $5,000 in paper series I savings bonds with your refund. Any unused amount of your refund can be sent to you in a paper check, or you can elect to have the remaining refund direct deposited into an account of your choice.
Example: Bill is entitled to a $2,500 federal income tax refund. He decides to save $1,000 of the refund by buying savings bonds, to save another $1,000 by having the IRS direct deposit that amount to his IRA, and have the IRS direct deposit the remaining $500 to his checking account. Bill gives the IRS these instructions by completing Form 8888 and attaching it to his Form 1040. On the Form 8888, he checks the appropriate checking or savings boxes, gives the IRS the routing and account numbers for his IRA and checking accounts and completes the information specified in the Form 8888 instructions for the bond purchase. Six $50 savings bonds, one $200 savings bond and one $500 savings bond will be mailed to him.
Savings bonds are designed as longer-term investments, and generally cannot be redeemed during the first 12 months after you buy them, unless you live in an area affected by a disaster, such as a flood, fire, hurricane or tornado. Waivers for areas affected by disasters are announced on the TreasuryDirect.gov website. If you redeem a savings bond within the first five years, the three most recent months' interest will be forfeited. After five years, no penalty will apply.
Yes. Savings bonds purchased with a tax refund will be issued as paper bond certificates in your name. If you are married and filed a joint return, the savings bonds will be issued in your name and your spouse's name. If you purchase savings bonds for someone else, the bonds will be issued in the name(s) that you listed on Form 8888.
Savings bond interest is exempt from state and local income tax. Savings bond interest is subject to federal income tax; however, taxation can be deferred until redemption, final maturity, or other taxable disposition, whichever occurs first. You also have the option of claiming interest annually for federal income tax purposes. Savings bonds are not exempt from any applicable estate, inheritance, gift or other excise taxes, whether federal or state. Tax benefits also may be available when redemption amounts are used to pay education expenses.
Qualified taxpayers may be able to exclude all or part of the interest earned from eligible savings bonds issued after 1989 when paying qualified higher education expenses. Savings bonds must be issued in the name of a taxpayer age 24 or older at the time of issuance. Married couples must file jointly to be eligible for the exclusion. Other restrictions and income limits apply. See Publication 970 for more information.
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is authorized to replace lost, stolen or destroyed savings bonds. You can file a claim by writing to: Treasury Retail Securities Services, PO Box 214, Minneapolis, MN 55480-0214, completing FS Form 1048PDF. You should keep records of your savings bond serial numbers, issue dates, and social security or taxpayer identification numbers in a safe place. This information will help speed up the replacement process.
Your savings bonds are ordered after the IRS completes processing your tax return. Once ordered, it may take up to three weeks for your savings bonds to arrive in the mail. If you're having a portion of your refund deposited directly into your bank account, you may receive your refund before your savings bonds arrive by mail.
The first step is to check the status of your refund by going to the Where's My Refund feature on IRS.gov or calling 800-829-1954. You can generally get information about your refund 72 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of your e-filed return, or three to four weeks after mailing a paper return. If the IRS has processed your refund and placed the order for your savings bonds, you will need to contact Treasury Retail Securities Services at 844-284-2676 to inquire about the status of your savings bonds.
Series I savings bonds protect you from inflation. With an I bond, you earn both a fixed rate of interest and a rate that changes with inflation. Twice a year, we set the inflation rate for the next 6 months.
For electronic savings bonds as gifts, both you and the recipient must have a TreasuryDirect account. TreasuryDirect is the official United States government application in which you can buy and keep savings bonds.
Most municipal securities issued after July 3, 1995 are required to file annual financial information, operating data, and notices of certain events with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). This information is available free of charge online at www.emma.msrb.org. If the municipal bond is not filed with MSRB, this could be a red flag.
Unlike the other types of Treasury securities, savings bonds can be owned by kids. Also, savings bonds are non-marketable, which means they are registered to a specific owner and cannot be bought and sold to other people in the "secondary market" by brokers and dealers. Paper savings bonds used to be bought in different denominations. Bonds were available with a face value of $25, $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000. You could buy them from most commercial banks in paper form or directly from the Treasury Department in electronic form. Savings bonds that are electronic can be bought for as little as $25 or any amount up to $5000 and held in a secure TreasuryDirect account.
Since January 1, 2012, paper savings bonds are no longer available at banks or other financial institutions. Paper Series I bonds can still be bought with IRS tax refunds, but Series EE bonds are available only in electronic form.
When you used to buy a paper Series EE bond, you paid half the face value for the bond. Now, you pay the total face value for electronic EE bonds. At the end of the savings bond's term, you cash it in. Regardless if you paid half or total face value, you will get the face value plus the interest that has built up over the years. You can cash in your bond after one year from buying it and get back the money you paid for it. You will not get all the interest that has built up if you cash in a savings bond before it is five years old.
Generally, a bond that matures in one to three years is referred to as a short-term bond. Medium- or intermediate-term bonds are generally those that mature in four to 10 years, and long-term bonds are those with maturities greater than 10 years. Not all bonds reach maturity. Callable bonds, which allow the issuer to retire a bond before it matures, are common.
Savings bonds are also issued by the federal government and backed by the "full faith and credit" guarantee. Unlike many other types of bonds, only the person(s) in whose name a savings bond is registered can receive payment for it.
The two most common types of savings bonds are Series I and Series EE bonds. Both are accrual securities, meaning the interest you earn accrues monthly at a variable rate and is compounded semiannually. Interest income is paid out at redemption.
Most corporate bonds trade in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. TRACE, the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, provides real-time price information for corporate bonds. TRACE brings transparency to the fixed income market and helps create a level playing field for all market participants by providing comprehensive, real-time access to bond price information.
Agency securities are bonds issued by U.S. federal government agencies (other than the U.S. Treasury) or by GSEs. Most agency bonds pay a semiannual fixed coupon and are sold in a variety of increments, generally requiring a minimum initial investment of $10,000.
With the exception of bonds issued by Ginnie Mae, agency securities are not fully guaranteed by the U.S. government. The issuing agency will affect the strength of any guarantee provided on the agency bond. Evaluating an agency's credit rating before you invest should be standard procedure. Many credit rating agencies make this information available on their website. 041b061a72