The April applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 3.2%, the same as it was in March. The rate for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust, SCIN or intra-family loan, with a note of a 9-year duration (the mid-term rate, compounded annually), is 2.70%. This is a very slight increase from March’s rate. Remember that lower rates work best with GRATs, CLATs, sales to defective grantor trusts, private annuities, SCINs and intra-family loans. The combination of a low AFR and a decline in the financial markets continues to present a potentially rewarding opportunity to fund GRATs in April with depressed assets you expect to perform better in the coming years.
Clients should also continue to consider “refinancing” existing intra-family loans. The AFRs (based on annual compounding) used in connection with intra-family loans are 0.67% for loans less than 3 years, 2.70% for loans less than 9 years and 4.40% for long-term loans. Thus, if a $1 million loan is made to a child and the child can invest the funds and obtain a 5% return, the child will be able to keep any returns over the mid-term AFR of 2.70%. These same rates are used in connection with sales to defective grantor trusts.
