@ TaxDonor
EDIT NOTE 5/23/2022 at 2:03 PM Pacific
Also see my next comment which follows this one. It has some new info which differs from this one, and it could come as a single bond.
Original comment:
That same article in the first link provided by @ Mike9241 above has another couple of important points. It requires that any estimated tax payments and/or extension payments total to a whole dollar amount. If there are cents in the total of such payments, then the IRS adjusts the refund, and such adjustment apparently makes it ineligible for bonds. This doesn't apply to withholding, which is OK to have cents, it says.
You wrote: " I'll have to remember I'm supposed to get this paper bond at some point and somehow follow-up if I don't."
You may already know this, but the $5,000 won't be a single bond. You'll likely have to watch out for multiple envelopes, and may not be on the same day. Paper I-bonds by this method are issued in denominations of $50, $100, $200, $500, and $1,000. According to the info displayed at the Treasury Direct website, $5,000 in bonds will come as 12 paper bonds.
Six $50 bonds
One $200 bond
One $500 bond
Four $1000 bonds
"If you buy more than $250 of savings bonds, we will use $50 denominations to fill the first $250 and the fewest possible number of additional bonds for the remainder. For example, if you request $1,000 in paper I bonds, you will receive six $50 bonds, one $200 bond, and one $500 bond."
