What's the EIN for Treasury Direct on my 1099-INT for savings bonds?
I'm trying to help my grandparents file their taxes and they've got some savings bond interest from Treasury Direct. Problem is, they only gave me the first page of their 1099-INT (which is formatted terribly btw) and it doesn't show the EIN for the US Treasury anywhere. I've been trying to get the other pages from them but they live in another state and aren't great with technology - my grandma tried to "scan" it by taking a blurry photo that cuts off half the page 🤦♀️ I've been searching online but all I find are instructions for applying for your own EIN which isn't helpful at all. Getting kind of frustrated since their tax appointment is coming up soon. If anyone has a 1099-INT from Treasury Direct for their savings bonds and could tell me what EIN they use, I'd really appreciate it! Just need that one piece of info to finish this return.
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Annabel Kimball
The EIN for Treasury Direct (Bureau of the Fiscal Service) on 1099-INT forms for savings bonds is 43-1965496. This is the standard Employer Identification Number used for all Treasury Direct interest reporting. If you're using tax software, you should be able to enter this EIN along with the interest amount shown on the 1099-INT page you have. The software should recognize this as Treasury income and handle it appropriately. Make sure you're entering it in the section specifically for savings bond interest.
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Chris Elmeda
•Are you sure? I thought all government agencies had EINs that started with a specific number pattern. Does this apply to all savings bonds or just certain types? I have some I bonds from years ago.
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Annabel Kimball
•Yes, that's the correct EIN for Treasury Direct/Bureau of the Fiscal Service. While many federal agencies do start with similar patterns, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (which administers Treasury Direct) uses this specific EIN for interest reporting purposes. This applies to all savings bonds reported through Treasury Direct, including Series EE, Series I, and other Treasury securities where interest is reported on a 1099-INT. The same EIN should appear regardless of which type of savings bonds your grandparents own.
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Jean Claude
I went through the exact same headache last month with my mom's bonds! After hours of frustration I found a solution - I used https://taxr.ai to scan her partial Treasury Direct statement. It recognized it as savings bond interest and automatically populated the correct EIN (43-1965496) plus calculated the taxable vs tax-exempt portions correctly. Saved me from having to decipher Treasury's confusing statements or wait for my mom to find the missing pages.
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Charity Cohan
•How does that work exactly? Do you just upload the 1099 and it pulls out all the info? I have a similar situation with my dad's documents but he only sends me phone pics of everything.
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Josef Tearle
•Sounds too good to be true. What happens if it gets the numbers wrong? I'm always skeptical of these tax tools since ultimately I'm responsible if the IRS comes knocking.
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Jean Claude
•It's actually really straightforward - you just upload whatever tax document you have (even if it's incomplete) and it extracts all the important information. It works surprisingly well even with phone photos as long as the numbers are readable. It's designed specifically for tax documents so it knows what to look for. As for accuracy, it shows you exactly what it extracted so you can verify everything before using it. What I found helpful was that it didn't just pull the numbers but also identified which box they came from and what they represent - like distinguishing between taxable and tax-exempt interest which is crucial for savings bonds.
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Josef Tearle
Just wanted to update - I was the skeptical one about taxr.ai but I tried it for my parents' messy stack of tax docs including some Treasury Direct statements. Not only did it pull the correct EIN, but it also separated out which portion of the interest was taxable this year vs deferred, which I had been calculating manually before. The best part was being able to organize everything in one place instead of jumping between crumpled papers and photos. Definitely converted me from skeptic to believer!
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Shelby Bauman
If you're still having trouble getting information from Treasury Direct, I've had success using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually reach a human at Treasury Direct. Their phone lines are IMPOSSIBLE to get through normally - I was on hold for 3+ hours before giving up. The Claimyr service got me connected to an agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed my EIN info and answered questions about my missing pages. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c
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Quinn Herbert
•Wait, how does that even work? They just magically get you through the phone queue? Sounds like they're gaming the system somehow.
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Salim Nasir
•This seems sketchy. Why would I pay someone to call a government agency when I can just do it myself? I've never had trouble reaching Treasury Direct by calling first thing when they open.
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Shelby Bauman
•It's not magic - they use an automated system that navigates phone trees and holds your place in line. When an agent is about to answer, you get connected. It's basically like having someone wait on hold for you. I thought the same thing about doing it myself, but after spending literally my entire afternoon trying to get through multiple times, it was worth having someone else handle the hold time. Not everyone has the flexibility to call right when they open, especially if you're in a different time zone or working. I tried calling at opening time too, but still got stuck in the queue for over an hour before I had to hang up for a meeting.
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Salim Nasir
Ok I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After another frustrating morning trying to reach Treasury Direct about missing 1099 pages (following my own advice about calling when they open), I broke down and tried the service. Got connected to a representative in about 20 minutes without having to sit there with my phone. The rep was able to email me a complete copy of the 1099-INT with the EIN and everything. Money well spent considering I would've wasted another day trying to get through.
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Hazel Garcia
For future reference, if you use TurboTax, it actually has the Treasury Direct EIN pre-programmed. Just start typing "Treasury" or "Savings Bonds" in the payer field and it will suggest the Bureau of Fiscal Service with the EIN already filled in!
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PaulineW
•Thank you so much! I actually am using TurboTax, but I never thought to try typing it in directly. I was so focused on finding the actual number that I missed the obvious solution. I just tried what you suggested and it worked perfectly - it automatically filled in "BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE" with the correct EIN when I typed "treasury". This saved me a ton of hassle!
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Laila Fury
If your grandparents have online access to their Treasury Direct account, they can log in and download all their tax forms including complete 1099-INTs with the EIN. Might be worth walking them through it over the phone so they can access these themselves in the future.
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Geoff Richards
•Good suggestion in theory but have you tried helping seniors with Treasury Direct online? That website is stuck in 1997 and the login process is RIDICULOUS. They need their account number, password AND a special code from a card they were mailed when they set up the account. My mom lost her card years ago and the recovery process was a nightmare.
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Amara Eze
I totally feel your pain with helping elderly family members with taxes! Just wanted to add that if you're still stuck, you can also call the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040 and they can help verify the correct EIN for Treasury Direct over the phone. I had to do this last year for my grandfather's bonds and the representative was actually really helpful - they confirmed the 43-1965496 EIN that others mentioned and even helped me understand which parts of the interest were taxable vs. exempt. The wait times can be long (especially during tax season) but it's free and they have access to all the official records. Might be worth trying if the other suggestions don't work out!
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Anastasia Fedorov
•That's really helpful to know about calling the IRS directly! I hadn't thought of that option. Do you remember roughly how long the wait was when you called? I'm trying to decide between that and some of the other solutions people mentioned. Also, did they need any specific information from you to verify the EIN, or were they able to just confirm it based on the Treasury Direct question?
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