Effective January 1, 2012 (1/1/12), U.S. savings bonds are no longer sold in paper form at banks and other financial institutions. U.S. savings bonds and other Treasury Department securities are available for purchase at www.treasurydirect.gov. Paper bonds continue to be redeemable at some, but no longer all, financial institutions.

Purchase of savings bonds discontinued: The program allowing for your refund to be deposited into your Treasury Direct® account to buy savings bonds, as well as the ability to buy paper bonds with your refund, has been discontinued. Form 8888 is now only used to split your direct deposit refund between two or more accounts or to split your refund between a direct deposit and a paper check. Go to TreasuryDirect.gov/Research-Center/FAQ-IRS-Tax-Feature.