Reposting 1/26/25 as the 2024 tax forms are now available
Original Post 2/22/24:
Your Form 1099-INT for interest earned from I Bonds must be downloaded directly on the Treasury Direct website and is not sent in the mail. The process also works differently than all other bank-issued 1099 forms out there.
We mentioned this briefly in our main 1099 page for 2023, and a reader mentioned this as something worth highlighting given its broad impact among our readers.
To find your 1099: login at Treasurydirect.gov > choose the ManageDirect tab > Manage My Taxes, choose year 2023 > choose ‘View your 1099 for tax year 2023’. (Be sure never to click the ‘back’ button when using Treasury Direct since they then will get logged out and will need a new login process.)
There will be a page detailing your earned interest for the 2023 calendar year. It won’t be in the standard pdf format like most banks do – simply print out or save that page of information, as you would with any other 1099. Below is the video from the IRS website describing the process:
All of the interest is typically reported in the year you cashed-out the I Bond. Also worth noting that I Bonds and US Treasuries only pay federal taxes; they are exempt from state and local taxes.
This was very helpful! Thanks!
They do get around to sending emails since I got one today. It included a link to the above video since many people would find it challenging without it. Of course, information similar to “To find your 1099” above would have sufficed. Plus I have no idea why they think they are exempt from sending a snail mail copy. But, hey, this is your tax dollars at work!
If you do bank or brokerage bonuses, recommend that you keep some Ibonds on hand to fulfill direct deposit requirements for situations where ACH transfers do not work. Chase checking/savings bonus is one example. I’m working on a credit union bonus that is also stringent.
You need to hold Ibonds for a year before you can redeem, minimum $25 redemption. The bonds will earn interest while in this account.
Or, buy 4-week t-bills that autoroll and replace as needed.
1099-INT is available now.
Don’t forget about any iBonds from tax returns! Those show up completely separate under linked accounts. I only noticed because the total in my 1099 did not match the value I expected – I had purchased some iBonds the usual way, and some using my tax return.
I saw this post, and thought “Oh no, for five years I’ve neglected to download 1099s and pay taxes on my interest.” So I logged in to Treasury Direct (the website isn’t bad anymore) and I saw that I had no taxable transactions in 2024, and none in any prior year. I guess that’s because I hold my I-Bonds long term, and haven’t sold any.
Correct, taxes are due on all earnings when you cash out/redeem I-bonds.
This is why I love DoC
This was very helpful.
Thank You!
Thank You! I had no idea they didn’t send them.
isnt it pathetic that turbotax cant even read a 1099 pdf from treasury direct, when uploaded to fill in? what a joke. And we’re worried about Ai taking over the world? hardly
That’s exactly why privatized AI will take over the world because most governments’ digital systems are a joke (treasury, VA EMR, etc).
Turbotax is a private company
You mean the CCP and Deepseek?