Intra-family Loans can be a great opportunity for families to give their children or relatives additional funds, or if a relative is looking to make a significant purchase, a relative can borrow from a member of the family at a much better rate than going to a financial institution. Most individuals are familiar with the idea of making gifts to their children or relatives of an amount below the annual gift exclusion of $14,000, but those seeking to make transfers to their family that exceed the annual exclusion should be considering intra-family loans because of current low interest rates.
If making such a loan, the loan should be properly documented and interest must be charged and paid. If these requirements are not met, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may recharacterize the loan as a gift. If treated as a gift, the loan will reduce the lender’s gift and estate tax exemption or may cause the gift to be taxed at the current gift tax rate of 40%. It is recommended that the loan be documented with a promissory note and a fixed payment schedule. An interest rate equal to or above the Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) must be charge on the loan. The AFR will depend on the length of the loan. For loans with an annual compounding interest, the January interest rates are as follows: short-term (< 3 years): .56%; mid-term (3-9 years): 1.68%; and long-term (> 9 years): 2.61%. The recommended length and structure for repayment of the loan will likely depend on the AFR at the time of the loan, the financial needs of the lender, and the funds available to the borrower.
As an example of the effectiveness of such a loan, Parent makes a loan to Child for $500,000 and Child invest such funds with an annual return of 5%. If the loan is for a term of 9 years with a balloon payment at the end of such time, the applicable January mid-term rate would be 1.68%. At the end of the 9 year period, Child would have $775,664. The payment due on the loan would be $580,885. Child nets $194,779. Parent would be required to report the amount of interest, $80,885, as interest income.
While current rates remain low, it is likely that the rates will increase over the course of 2016. If you want additional information or would like to take advantage of the current interest rates, contact the attorneys at Vandenack Williams LLC.
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