Tax-exempt interest.

If you received any tax-exempt interest (including any tax-exempt OID), such as from municipal bonds, each payer should send you a Form 1099-INT or a Form 1099-OID. In general, your tax-exempt stated interest should be shown in box 8 of Form 1099-INT or, for a tax-exempt OID bond, in box 2 of Form 1099-OID, and your tax-exempt OID should be shown in box 11 of Form 1099-OID. Enter the total on line 2a of your Form 1040 or 1040-SR. However, if you acquired a tax-exempt bond at a premium, only report the net amount of tax-exempt interest on line 2a of your Form 1040 or 1040-SR (that is, the excess of the tax-exempt interest received during the year over the amortized bond premium for the year). Also, if you acquired a tax-exempt OID bond at an acquisition premium, only report the net amount of tax-exempt OID on line 2a of your Form 1040 or 1040-SR (that is, the excess of the tax-exempt OID for the year over the amortized acquisition premium for the year). See Pub. 550 for more information about OID, bond premium, and acquisition premium.

Also include on line 2a of your Form 1040 or 1040-SR any exempt-interest dividends from a mutual fund or other regulated investment company. This amount should be shown in box 12 of Form 1099-DIV.

If an amount is shown in box 9 of Form 1099-INT, you must generally report it on line 2g of Form 6251. See the Instructions for Form 6251 at IRS.gov/Form6251 for details.

Line 3.

If, during 2025, you cashed series EE or I U.S. savings bonds issued after 1989 and you paid qualified higher education expenses for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents, you may be able to exclude part or all of the interest on those bonds. See Form 8815 at IRS.gov/Form8815 for details.