FS Form 5511 Department of the Treasury | Bureau of the Fiscal Service 2
TAX LIABILITY NOTICE (Carefully read before completing the Tax Liability Statement below.)
Upon the transfer of savings bonds to a trust, you must include in your gross income any accumulated interest on the
bonds, if you have not already reported it, unless, under the grantor trust provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, you
are treated as the owner of the portion of the trust represented by any tax-deferred accumulated interest on the
transferred bonds. If you are treated as the owner of that portion, the accumulated interest continues to be your income
rather than that of the trust, and therefore, you may continue to defer reporting the interest earned each year. You must
include the total accumulated interest in your gross income when the bonds are disposed of or finally mature, whichever
is earlier. These rules apply when bonds being transferred are Series I or EE bonds, if you are the owner of the portion
of the trust represented by the tax-deferred accumulated interest.
Generally, you will be treated as the owner of a trust that you have created to the extent that you retain certain powers
over or interests in the trust. For example, you will be treated as the owner of the portion of the trust represented by any
tax-deferred accumulated interest on the transferred bonds under the following circumstances:
(1) You will be treated as the owner of a trust to the extent that you have an unconditional power to revest in
yourself title to the trust assets. Thus, if you can, at your discretion, revoke all or part of the trust so that the
bonds will be returned to you, you will be treated as the owner of the portion of the trust represented by any
accumulated interest on the bonds.
(2) If the trust instrument provides that the transferred bonds or the proceeds from the redemption or disposition of
those bonds must be distributed to you or your spouse, or held or accumulated for future distribution to you or
your spouse, you will be treated as the owner of the portion of the trust represented by any accumulated
interest on the bonds. You will be treated as the owner in this circumstance irrespective of the terms of the
trust.
(3) You will be treated as the owner of a trust to the extent that you retain a power to control the beneficial
enjoyment of property transferred to a trust. Thus, if you retain, under the terms of the trust instrument, an
immediately exercisable power to determine, in your sole discretion, who will receive the bonds or the proceeds
from the redemption or disposition of the bonds, then you will be treated as the owner of the portion of the trust
represented by any accumulated interest.
The examples outlined above are illustrative only and they are not intended to cover all possible situations in which you
could be treated as the owner of a trust or a portion of a trust. Furthermore, events can occur, such as the renunciation
of a retained power or interest, which would cause you to cease being treated as the owner of a trust. If you are not sure
whether you will be treated as the owner of a trust, you may request a letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service. A
request for a letter ruling should be sent to: Internal Revenue Service, ATTN: CC: DOM: CORP: T, PO Box 7604,
Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044.
For more information, visit https://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/writtenDeterminations.html.
TAX LIABILITY STATEMENT
(This section must be completed if you are transferring savings bonds to a trust.)
You must mark box "a" or "b" to indicate if you are the owner of the portion of the trust represented.
(See TAX LIABILITY NOTICE above.)
“Interest” includes interest earned on EE or I bonds from the issue date until the date of transfer.
This statement will also apply to all future transactions requested by the same owner(s) or person(s) entitled to the
same trust.
For federal income tax purposes:
a. I certify that I will be treated as owner of the portion of the trust represented by the tax-deferred accumulated
interest on the bonds being transferred. If this box is marked, the interest will be tax-deferred (interest will not be reported
to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of the transfer).
b. I certify that I will not be treated as owner of the portion of the trust represented by the tax-deferred accumulated
interest on the bonds being transferred. If this box is marked, interest will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service for
the taxable year in which the bonds were transferred to the trust. A 1099-INT will be generated for the Social Security
Number specified.