You might be able to cash in U.S. Savings bonds tax free to pay for college if you and the bonds meet certain conditions:

You must pay qualified education expense for yourself, your spouse or a dependent. Qualified expenses include tuition and fees, but not room and board. You cannot use tax-free savings bond proceeds to pay expenses that are being paid for by scholarship or financial aid or that are being used to claim the Hope or Lifetime Learning tax credits.

Your modified adjusted gross income, when you cash in the bonds, must be less than a certain amount, which changes each year.

You cannot file your federal tax return as married filing separately.

The bond must be a Series EE bond issued after 1989 or a Series I bond.

The owner of the bond must be one or both parents and the owner(s) must have been at least 24 years old before the bond was issued. The child can be named as a beneficiary, but not as a co-owner. Bonds your child might have received as a gift growing up won’t qualify.

To qualify for the tax exclusion, you must complete IRS Form 8815, Exclusion of Interest From Series EE and I U.S. Savings Bonds Issued After 1989, and attach it to your tax return.

For more information, including current income limits, go to www.irs.gov and search for Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Higher Education, for the relevant tax year.