The Internal Revenue Service has released the Applicable Federal Rates (AFRs) for January 2019. AFRs are published monthly and represent the minimum interest rates that should be charged for family loans to avoid tax complications.
Here are the rates for January 2019:
| Annual | Semiannual | Quarterly | Monthly | |
| Short-term | 2.72% | 2.70% | 2.69% | 2.68% |
| Mid-term | 2.89% | 2.87% | 2.86% | 2.85% |
| Long-term | 3.15% | 3.13% | 3.12% | 3.11% |
The Section 7520 interest rate for January 2019 is 3.4 percent. The Section 7520 interest rate is the interest used in a common estate tax planning technique called a “grantor retained annuity trust” or “GRAT.” In general, the lower the interest rate, the more effective the transaction is for reducing estate taxes.
For more information, see the full listing from the IRS here.
