The ManageDirect → Manage My Taxes section of TreasuryDirect keeps a running record of your taxable transactions and lets you download IRS Form 1099 for any calendar year — for your primary account and any linked accounts. Since this information goes to the IRS annually, it’s worth knowing what actually triggers a reportable event.
Three types of transactions create tax obligations: redemptions (partial or full), transfers (whether inside TreasuryDirect or out), and maturities. These can be triggered by you or, in some cases, by a designated grantee. Depending on the security type and what happened with it, you may end up with one, two, or all three of the IRS forms described below.
This one covers interest income. You’ll see it when you redeem or transfer a savings bond, when a savings bond matures, or when you receive semi-annual interest payments from Treasury marketable securities — whether you’re the account holder or the grantee.
IRS Publication 550 (Investment Income and Expenses) covers the full treatment of investment interest if you need to dig deeper.
One wrinkle worth knowing: if your 1099-INT includes income that legally belongs to someone else, the IRS considers you a “nominee recipient.” That puts you on the hook to issue a separate Form 1099-INT for each actual owner, with yourself listed as the payer. Copy A goes to the IRS, Copy B goes to each owner, and you’ll also need to file Form 1096 as a cover transmittal. The one carve-out here — spouses don’t have to file nominee returns for amounts belonging to each other.
Form 1099-B captures principal proceeds when a Treasury marketable security matures. What gets reported depends on whether the security is classified as “covered” or “non-covered.”
Covered securities:
All maturities of covered securities show up on a 1099-B.
Non-covered securities:
For non-covered securities, proceeds only get reported if the security came to you through a transfer rather than an original purchase — and only when it matures. One more thing: 1099-B reporting follows your account, not the transaction, so grantee involvement doesn’t change that.
If you hold TIPS, the annual inflation adjustment to your principal is taxable income even though you won’t see that money until you sell or the bond matures. TreasuryDirect reports those adjustments as Original Issue Discount on Form 1099-OID — both increases and decreases that occurred while you held the security during the year.
Series I Savings Bonds don’t fall under OID reporting. IRS Publication 1212 (Guide to Original Issue Discount Instruments) has the full breakdown.
A handful of situations change the picture:
Each section of your tax summary includes a column for federal income tax withheld. Backup withholding can be involuntary — the IRS-mandated rate is currently 24% — or voluntary, where you can elect any rate up to 50%. Whatever was withheld counts as tax already paid and should be reported as such on your return.
For questions about bond premium amortization or market discount accrual, IRS Publication 550 is the place to look.