You are under the $17,000 per individual --- so no Form 709 required. Are you planning to give her more money in the same year? And......You say it was purchased under her name and SSN. If the bond was in her name and she cashes/sells it and puts it in her checking account---that was just her own bond and her own money--not a gift from you when she cashes it.
Why are you asking which year to call it a gift?
Some information about gifts:
Gifts given to family members, friends or other individuals are not deductible. Gifts received are not taxable to the person who received the gift, and are not entered on a tax return.
If your gift exceeds the yearly limit ($17,000 per individual) imposed by the gift tax rules, then you will need to complete a Form 709 gift tax form and send it to the IRS, although it is very unlikely that you will owe any tax.
TurboTax does not support Form 709. It is not an income tax form and would not be included as part of an income tax return.
Here is a link to the form:
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f709.pdf
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/estates/the-gift-tax-made-simple/L5tGWVC8N
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
