To buy a U.S. savings bond as a gift, open an account at TreasuryDirect.gov, get the recipient’s full legal name and Social Security Number, and purchase an electronic Series I or Series EE bond through the BuyDirect tab. The bond sits in your Gift Box for at least five business days, then you deliver it electronically to the recipient’s own TreasuryDirect account. Paper bonds are no longer sold, so the entire process happens online.
What You Need Before You Start
Two facts about the recipient are non-negotiable: their full legal name and their Social Security Number. Federal regulations require both a first and last name and a valid taxpayer identification number for every person named in a bond’s registration.1eCFR. 31 CFR Part 363 – Regulations Governing Securities Held in TreasuryDirect The SSN links the bond to the right person for tax reporting on the interest it earns.
You need a TreasuryDirect account of your own. If you don’t have one, go to TreasuryDirect.gov, click “Open a New Account,” and provide your Social Security Number, a linked bank account for funding purchases, and basic contact information.
The recipient must also have (or eventually open) a TreasuryDirect account, because that’s where the bond is delivered. They don’t need it on day one. You can buy the bond and hold it in your Gift Box until they set one up.
Not everyone qualifies to own a savings bond. The recipient must have a Social Security Number and be either a U.S. citizen, a U.S. resident, or a civilian employee of the United States government.2TreasuryDirect. Buying Savings Bonds
Buying for a Child Under 18
A child can’t open a standard TreasuryDirect account. Instead, a parent or the person providing the child’s chief support opens a Minor Linked Account inside their own TreasuryDirect account.3TreasuryDirect. How Do I…? The child owns the bonds; the parent controls the account until the child turns 18 and opens their own primary account, at which point the securities move over.
To set one up, the parent logs into TreasuryDirect, clicks the “ManageDirect” tab, and selects “Establish a Minor Linked Account,” entering the child’s name and Social Security Number.
If you’re a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or family friend buying for someone else’s child, the parent still has to set up the Minor Linked Account on their end before you can deliver the bond. You can buy the bond first and hold it in your Gift Box, but delivery has to wait. Coordinate ahead of birthdays and holidays so the gift isn’t stuck in limbo.
How the Purchase Works
Log into TreasuryDirect and click the “BuyDirect” tab. You’ll choose between two savings bonds:
- Series I bonds pay a rate that combines a fixed component with an inflation adjustment that resets every six months. The composite rate for I bonds issued from November 2025 through April 2026 is 4.03%, built from a 0.90% fixed rate and a 1.56% semiannual inflation rate.4TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Interest Rates
- Series EE bonds pay a fixed rate for the life of the bond, currently 2.50% for bonds issued November 2025 through April 2026. The Treasury also guarantees that an EE bond will double in value after 20 years, even if the stated interest rate alone wouldn’t get there.5TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds
You can buy a bond for any amount from $25 to $10,000, down to the penny, so a $50.00 bond or a $137.52 bond both work.2TreasuryDirect. Buying Savings Bonds During the purchase, indicate that the bond is a gift. The system asks for the recipient’s name and Social Security Number instead of registering the bond to you. Review, confirm, and you’re done. The bond typically lands in your Gift Box within one business day.6TreasuryDirect. How to Buy Gift Savings Bonds in TreasuryDirect
Choosing Between Series I and Series EE
Series I bonds protect against inflation. The rate adjusts every six months based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, so the purchasing power of the gift holds up over time.4TreasuryDirect. I Bonds Interest Rates The fixed-rate component, set at purchase, never changes for the life of that bond.
Series EE bonds suit very long horizons. The 20-year doubling guarantee means a $100 EE bond will be worth at least $200 after two decades regardless of the stated rate.5TreasuryDirect. EE Bonds That works out to an effective 3.5% annual return if held the full 20 years. Both types keep earning interest for up to 30 years.
The $10,000 Annual Limit
The Treasury caps how much any one person can acquire in savings bonds each calendar year: $10,000 in electronic Series I bonds and $10,000 in electronic Series EE bonds per recipient.7eCFR. 31 CFR Part 363 – Regulations Governing Securities Held in TreasuryDirect – Section 363.52 The limit follows the recipient, not the buyer. If three relatives each buy $5,000 in I bonds for the same child, that child has hit the $10,000 I bond cap for the year even though no single giver spent more than $5,000.
Gift bonds count toward the recipient’s limit in the year they are delivered, not the year they are purchased.7eCFR. 31 CFR Part 363 – Regulations Governing Securities Held in TreasuryDirect – Section 363.52 You can use that to your advantage: buy in December, hold the bond in your Gift Box, and deliver in January to spread purchases across two calendar years. If someone exceeds the cap, the Treasury reserves the right to remove the excess bonds and refund the purchase price.
Delivering the Bond
After purchase, the bond sits in a dedicated area of your account called the Gift Box. You must hold it there for at least five business days before delivery.8TreasuryDirect. Giving Savings Bonds as Gifts To send it, click the “Gift Box” tab, select the bond, click “Deliver,” and enter the recipient’s TreasuryDirect account number.9TreasuryDirect. FAQs About Undelivered Gift Bonds
That account number requirement is the awkward part of a surprise gift. Common workarounds: coordinate quietly with a spouse or another parent who can set up the account (or the Minor Linked Account) without spoiling things, or present a printed confirmation of the purchase and help the recipient open their account on the spot.
If the recipient hasn’t opened an account yet, the bond stays in your Gift Box indefinitely and keeps earning interest the whole time. The Treasury considers the recipient the legal owner from the moment of purchase, and undelivered bonds can create complications if something happens to the donor’s account, so deliver as soon as you reasonably can.9TreasuryDirect. FAQs About Undelivered Gift Bonds
Tax Basics for the Giver
Savings bond interest is subject to federal income tax but exempt from state and local income tax.10TreasuryDirect. Tax Information for EE and I Bonds The person who owns the bond when it earns interest owes the tax, which for a gift bond is the recipient, not you. Most owners defer paying until they cash the bond or it reaches final maturity at 30 years; the alternative is to report and pay tax on the interest each year as it accrues.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 403, Interest Received
Buying a savings bond for someone counts as a gift for federal gift tax purposes. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.12Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Because the annual bond cap tops out at $20,000 per recipient ($10,000 in I bonds plus $10,000 in EE bonds), almost every gift bond purchase falls inside the exclusion and requires no gift tax reporting.
The Education Exclusion Trap
If bond proceeds go toward qualified higher education expenses, the interest can be entirely tax-free. To qualify, the bonds must have been issued after 1989, the owner must have been at least 24 years old when the bonds were issued, and the owner’s modified adjusted gross income must fall below set thresholds. For 2025, the exclusion begins phasing out at $99,500 for single filers and $149,250 for joint filers, and disappears at $114,500 and $179,250 respectively. The exclusion is claimed on IRS Form 8815 in the year the bond is cashed.13Internal Revenue Service. Form 8815 – Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I US Savings Bonds
Here’s what trips up parents buying bonds for a young child’s college fund: a bond issued in the child’s name doesn’t qualify for the education exclusion if the child was under 24 when the bond was issued. To keep the exclusion available, the bond needs to be in the parent’s name, with the child listed as beneficiary if desired. Registering it correctly at purchase can save real money two decades later.
Paper Bonds Through Tax Refunds Are Gone
If you remember buying paper Series I bonds by directing part of a tax refund through IRS Form 8888, that option ended on January 1, 2025. The Treasury discontinued it, citing cost, low use, and paper bonds’ vulnerability to fraud, theft, and mail delays.14TreasuryDirect. Using Your Income Tax Refund to Buy Paper Savings Bonds The replacement is the same TreasuryDirect purchase described above. Bonds start at $25, the digital format removes the risk of a lost certificate, and delivery to the recipient happens with a few clicks once their account is open.