To redeem paper savings bonds by mail, fill out FS Form 1522, sign it in front of a certifying officer at a bank or credit union, and mail the completed form together with your physical bond certificates to Treasury Retail Securities Services, P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.1TreasuryDirect. Contact Us Before you start, check whether a local bank will just cash the bonds over the counter: many will, and Form 1522 is really the fallback for when that isn’t an option.2TreasuryDirect. For Financial Institutions
When You Actually Need This Form
Most paper EE and I bonds can be redeemed at a bank or credit union that offers the service. Walk in with the bond and valid identification, and the teller handles it. Form 1522 is what you use when that path isn’t available, generally in three situations: no local institution will cash your bonds (some redeem only for their own account holders, and some don’t redeem savings bonds at all), you’re acting on behalf of someone else as a legal representative, guardian, surviving beneficiary, or executor, or the securities are older Series HH bonds or retirement-plan holdings that Treasury handles directly.
The form can be signed by the owner, a co-owner, a surviving beneficiary, the legal representative of a deceased or incompetent owner, or anyone else entitled to payment under Treasury regulations.3Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities One boundary worth flagging: if the original owner has died and the estate is not going through formal court administration, Form 1522 is not the right paper. You use FS Form 5336 instead, which covers voluntary representatives of non-administered estates.4TreasuryDirect. Non-Administered Estates
Check the Value and the Holding Rules First
Look up what each bond is worth today using TreasuryDirect’s Savings Bond Calculator. Enter the series, denomination, and issue date from the face of the certificate, and it returns the current redemption value with accrued interest.5TreasuryDirect. Calculate the Value of Your Paper Savings Bond(s)
Two timing rules apply to both EE and I bonds. You cannot redeem a bond until at least 12 months after its issue date.6eCFR. 31 CFR Part 351 Subpart B – Maturities, Redemption Values, and Investment Yields of Series EE Savings Bonds And if you cash before five years, Treasury withholds the last three months of interest as a penalty. A bond cashed at 18 months pays only 15 months of interest. Past five years, no penalty.7TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Worth confirming before you commit.
Filling Out the Form
Download the current form from treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/forms/.8TreasuryDirect. Forms for Savings Bonds The April 2026 revision has three numbered items and a certification block. Keep the physical bonds in front of you.
Item 1: Description of Bonds
For each bond, list the name or names currently registered on it, the issue date, and the serial number. If you have more bonds than fit, attach a separate list or use FS Form 3500 from the same forms page.3Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities Denominations aren’t requested; Treasury identifies each bond from the serial number and issue date.
Item 2: Direct Deposit Instructions
This is where payment goes. Fill in the payee’s Social Security Number, or an Employer Identification Number if an estate or entity is claiming payment. Then enter the name on the receiving bank account, the nine-digit routing number (it begins with 0, 1, 2, or 3), the account number, whether the account is checking or savings, and the bank’s name and phone number.3Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities The form pays by direct deposit only. There is no paper check option.p>
Item 3: Signature
Do not sign yet. The signature has to be witnessed by a certifying officer, so wait until you are at the bank. When you do sign, print your name and add your address, daytime phone, and email. The block includes a perjury certification that the taxpayer identification number is correct, that you’re not subject to backup withholding, and that you are a U.S. person.3Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service. FS Form 1522 – Special Form of Request for Payment of United States Savings and Retirement Securities
Getting Your Signature Certified
This step is the one people get wrong. Treasury does not accept a standard notary public seal on Form 1522 unless a form specifically permits it, and this one does not. You need certification by an authorized officer, which is a stricter standard.9TreasuryDirect. Signature Certification
The certifying officer verifies your identification, watches you sign, and then applies the required stamp or seal. In practice, the easiest option is a branch officer at your own bank or credit union, using the institution’s official seal or a signature guarantee stamp. Authorized paying agents for savings bonds can certify with their agent stamp. So can participants in a medallion signature guarantee program (STAMP, SEMP, or MSP), which brokerage firms and larger banks commonly offer. Federal Land Banks, Federal Home Loan Banks, and similar entities use their own seals. U.S. Armed Forces officers can certify by including their rank and a statement that they are authorized to do so.
If you’re overseas, a U.S. diplomatic or consular official can certify, and so can officers at foreign branches of U.S. banks. A foreign notary works only if a U.S. consular official also certifies that notary’s authority.10eCFR. 31 CFR 363.43 – What Are the Procedures for Certifying My Signature on an Offline Application for a TreasuryDirect Account, or on an Offline Transaction Form Some institutions charge a fee to certify. Many waive it for their own account holders. Call ahead to confirm the branch has an officer available who can do it.
Mailing the Package
Put the signed and certified form together with all the physical bond certificates and mail them to:
Treasury Retail Securities Services
P.O. Box 9150
Minneapolis, MN 55480-91501TreasuryDirect. Contact Us
You are sending financial instruments in the mail, so use a trackable service. USPS Registered Mail allows insurance up to the full value of the bonds and provides proof of delivery. Certified Mail with return receipt is cheaper and gives you tracking and delivery confirmation, though not insurance. Hold onto the receipt and tracking number until the deposit reaches your account.
Treasury does not publish an official processing time. Expect several weeks. If anything on the form is missing, incorrect, or uncertified, the package will come back with a letter telling you what to fix.
Tax Reporting After You Cash
Interest on EE and I bonds is subject to federal income tax and exempt from state and local income tax.11TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds Most owners defer reporting until the year the bond is cashed or matures. When Treasury pays you, it issues a Form 1099-INT covering all the interest the bond earned across its life. That amount goes on the interest income line of your federal return for the year the payment landed.
Who owes the tax depends on the registration. Co-owners each report in proportion to what they contributed to the purchase. If the bond was a gift registered only in the recipient’s name, the recipient owes the tax. In community property states with spouses filing separately, each spouse reports half.11TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds
If you cashed EE or I bonds issued after 1989 and used the proceeds for qualified higher education expenses, you may be able to exclude some or all of the interest from federal income. File IRS Form 8815 with your return to claim the exclusion.12IRS. About Form 8815, Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Income limits apply.
If the Bonds Are Missing
Lost, stolen, or destroyed certificates are a different process. Do not use Form 1522. File FS Form 1048, which lets Treasury either replace the bonds in electronic form within a TreasuryDirect account or pay their value by direct deposit.13TreasuryDirect. FS Form 1048 – Claim for Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed United States Savings Bonds You’ll need the issue date (or a range), the face amount, the serial number if you have it, and the names and Social Security Numbers on the inscription. If the bonds were stolen, include the date of theft and any police report. Treasury cannot issue substitutes for HH bonds or for any bond within one full calendar month of its final maturity. Once relief is granted, the original certificates belong to the United States and are no longer valid if they turn up later.