Transferring Treasury marketable securities out of, into, or between TreasuryDirect accounts comes with more rules than most people expect. Before you start the process, here’s a practical rundown of how it actually works.
Certain transfers require a Transfer Request (FS Form 5511), and you can’t just sign it at your kitchen table. The signature has to happen in front of a certifying official — someone at a bank, trust company, or credit union. A notary public doesn’t count. After you mail the form in, a customer service rep processes the transfer and you’ll receive an email confirming the change in your account.
A few restrictions are worth knowing about before you assume a transfer will go through quickly.
The 45-day holding period. Any Treasury marketable security has to sit in TreasuryDirect for at least 45 days from its original issue date before you can transfer it out. This applies to reinvested securities too, if additional funds were required to cover the full purchase amount. Submit the form before that window closes and TreasuryDirect will simply hold it until the 45 days are up.
4-Week T-Bills can’t be transferred out. These bills mature in 28 days — less than the 45-day minimum — so securities purchased at original issue are flat-out ineligible for external transfer.
Closed Book Periods. If your transfer form arrives during a Closed Book Period, nothing happens until it ends. The only carve-out: a security maturing at the close of that period will still pay out on schedule.
Transfers coming in aren’t subject to the 45-day rule. Securities moving into your TreasuryDirect account — from a broker or from a Legacy TreasuryDirect account — don’t have to clear any holding period.
Once a transfer completes, TreasuryDirect calculates reportable proceeds based on when the security was originally issued in your account. Everything taxable shows up on your IRS Form 1099, available online and printable at the end of each calendar year.
For individual accounts, you can give a second-named registrant Transact rights, which lets them handle transfers on your behalf — though those transactions still get reported under your account. Entity accounts don’t have access to Transact rights.
Moving securities to another TreasuryDirect account holder works in $100 increments. You can move part of a security or all of it. If you want to bundle multiple securities into one transfer, each one has to go in full — partials aren’t allowed when you’re combining them.
External transfers also work in $100 increments, and you can move a portion or the full amount of one or more securities at once.
Before you submit anything, call the receiving institution and confirm their routing number, bank name, and any specific instructions they have. Wrong details will delay or kill the transaction. TreasuryDirect processes external transfers under 31 CFR Parts 356, 357, and 363.
One thing TreasuryDirect won’t do: sell your securities for you. If you want to sell, transfer the securities to a broker/dealer account first, and let them execute the sale.
From a brokerage account. Ask your broker to send the securities over and give them these delivery details:
From a Legacy TreasuryDirect account. You can move eligible securities directly to your current online account without going through a broker. Fill out a Security Transfer Request (FS Form 5179). After a customer service rep verifies it, the securities show up in your Current Holdings.
Incoming securities are issued under the primary account owner’s name, with the primary bank on file set to receive any maturity proceeds or interest payments. Once the transfer lands, you can update the payment destination. Individual account holders can also edit the registration — entity accounts cannot.
If the price TreasuryDirect has on file differs from what you actually paid, contact Customer Service to sort it out. TreasuryDirect uses the auction price per $100 as its reference point.
A partial transfer cancels any reinvestments scheduled for that security. A full transfer keeps scheduled reinvestments intact only if the security moves to another TreasuryDirect account under the same taxpayer identification number, or to a linked minor account. If additional funds are needed to fulfill those reinvestments, they’ll be pulled from the receiving account’s primary bank automatically.