topic Age Requirement When Using Savings Bond Interest for Education Expenses in Education

Age Requirement When Using Savings Bond Interest for Education Expenses

cruiz — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:12:46 GMT

In 1992 my late mother purchased some EE savings bonds in both our names (me as POD) and last year I cashed them and opened 529 accounts for my kids

In order to deduct the interest income for doing that, does the age requirement state that the person claiming the deduction had to be 24 when the bonds were issued OR that the bond purchaser had to be 24 when they were issued?

Thanks for any help or clarification

Re: Age Requirement When Using Savings Bond Interest for Education Expenses

MaryK4 — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 02:00:43 GMT

It would apply to the bond issuer. The person named on the bond must be 24 years or older when the bond is issued. Therefore, a bond issued with a child's name will not qualify even years later when the child is ready for college.

Re: Age Requirement When Using Savings Bond Interest for Education Expenses

Hal_Al — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 14:14:01 GMT

I don't recall seeing that specific question asked before. In this forum, you only likely to get opinions, not a definitive answer.

That said, my opinion is that it is the person claiming the deduction (exclusion) that had to be 24 when the bonds were purchased.

Actual wording:

You can take the tax exclusion if you meet all of these conditions:

You were 24 years old or older before the bonds were issued.
Your modified adjusted gross income is less than the cut-off amount that the IRS sets for the year in which you want to take the exclusion. The cut-off amount may change each year. You can find the current cut-off amount on IRS Form 8815.
You cash the qualifying savings bonds in the same tax year for which you are claiming the exclusion.
You paid qualified higher education expenses to an eligible institution that same tax year. (The instructions that come with IRS Form 8815 explain both "qualified expenses" and "eligible institution." They also tell you what records you must keep.)
The expenses were for yourself, your spouse, or someone you list as a dependent on your federal income tax return.
You file your IRS tax return with any status EXCEPT married filing separately.

Source: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/tax-information-ee-i-bonds/using-bonds-for-higher-education/#id-which-savings-bonds-qualify--704803