I'm not sure if anyone used this option, but I did. I Filed online by April 17, 2012, IRS received my excess payment on April 18. I was expecting April 2012 bonds w/3.06% rate instead, I got May 2012 bonds w/2.2% rate. I bought $5k worth, even paid the extra on top of my tax refund to get there.
The Treasury dept states it's when they get payment from the IRS, not when they receive payment from you! So, the IRS needed 2-3 weeks to process an online tax return and didn't make the payment until May 2,2012. The problem is, no one at the IRS seems to know what to do other than write a letter to the IRS Service Center regarding this problem to see if it can get corrected (I'm not optimistic that it will get fixed). I've talked to the IRS and Treasury customer service people and both agree there seems to be a "hole" in this process.
If you owe money and pay on time (online or mail), the IRS will backdate the payment based on postmark or online submission, it seems purchasing an I Bond via tax return should hold to the same time stamping. From this experience, I don't think it's worthwhile to bother since the I Bonds change rates on May 1 and the IRS can't seem to process the purchase fast enough for April.
The Treasury dept states it's when they get payment from the IRS, not when they receive payment from you! So, the IRS needed 2-3 weeks to process an online tax return and didn't make the payment until May 2,2012. The problem is, no one at the IRS seems to know what to do other than write a letter to the IRS Service Center regarding this problem to see if it can get corrected (I'm not optimistic that it will get fixed). I've talked to the IRS and Treasury customer service people and both agree there seems to be a "hole" in this process.
If you owe money and pay on time (online or mail), the IRS will backdate the payment based on postmark or online submission, it seems purchasing an I Bond via tax return should hold to the same time stamping. From this experience, I don't think it's worthwhile to bother since the I Bonds change rates on May 1 and the IRS can't seem to process the purchase fast enough for April.