Municipal Bond Forum
Premium bond called before maturity
Q
In your article, “The Best Play for Today,” you say that the best values are premium bonds, even though it may seem “counterintuitive to many investors” (myself included). You have said in the past that one cannot claim a capital loss when a premium bond matures, even though one must pay tax on capital gains when a discount bond matures. My question is, can one claim a loss if a premium bond is called well before maturity, leading to the so-called “yield-to-worst”?
A
James A. Klotz responds:
The only time a capital loss can be claimed is if a premium bond is sold, prior to being called, at a price that is below its straight line accretion price.
No loss can be claimed when the bonds are called because the “worst case yield” accounts for the declining premium.
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