Creating an agreement document A strong loan agreement not only protects both parties in the event of any discrepancies, but may also be legally required by the IRS if your loan amount is larger than $10,000. A comprehensive contract should include the following details: The amount to be borrowed (loan principal)
You don't have to worry about family loans being subject to tax consequences if: You lend a child $10,000 or less, and the child does not use the money for investments, such as stocks or bonds. You lend a child $100,000 or less, and the child's net investment income is not more than $1,000 for the year.
The IRS mandates that any loan between family members be made with a signed written agreement, a fixed repayment schedule, and a minimum interest rate. (The IRS publishes Applicable Federal Rates (AFRs) monthly.)
Tax implications of loans to family members
While family members can charge interest rates below current market rates, the applicable federal rate is the minimum interest the lender can charge for loans more than $10,000. If you charge less than this rate, you'll have to pay taxes on the unearned interest.
Tax implications: If the family loan is interest-free and over a certain amount ($17,000 in 2023 or $18,000 in 2024), the lender may need to file a gift tax return. If the loan includes interest, the lender must follow IRS interest rate guidelines and potentially report it as income.
Tax implications for the borrower
On the borrower's side, there are typically no tax implications. The borrower doesn't typically need to report the loan and won't pay any income tax on it. In some cases, the borrower may get a tax perk from borrowing money from family.
Can my parents give me $100,000? Your parents can each give you up to $17,000 each in 2023 and it isn't taxed. However, any amount that exceeds that will need to be reported to the IRS by your parents and will count against their lifetime limit of $12.9 million.
Loans of less than $100,000.
If the borrower's net investment income doesn't exceed $1,000, there's no taxable interest income on the intra-family loan. Note that this special exception doesn't apply if you did not charge any interest or you're using a below‑market level interest rate for tax avoidance purposes.
AFRs are published monthly and represent the minimum interest rates that should be charged for family loans to avoid tax complications. The Section 7520 interest rate for January 2023 is 4.60 percent.
A gift letter is a formal document proving that money you have received is a gift, not a loan, and that the donor has no expectations for you to pay the money back. A gift can be broadly defined to include a sale, exchange, or other transfer of property from one person (the donor) to another (the recipient).
Get It in Writing. While you may be dealing with friends or family members, loaning them money is still a business deal. Make sure to get all the terms of the loan in writing. This will prevent any confusion and provide you with the necessary evidence if you need to go to court to collect the money.
Ask for a plan. The borrower should furnish details of the money's intended use, the schedule for repayment, and what will happen if they default on the loan. Review the borrower's finances and help them set up a budget that includes your monthly repayment. Make sure they understand this is a loan, not a gift.
This may seem harsh, but it's important to understand up front. A loan between loved ones has the same legal weight as a bank loan. If you are lending money to a friend or family member, you may want to get the details in writing and signed by all parties in case there's a conflict or misunderstanding.
Borrowing Down Payment Money From a Relative or Friend
Many people prefer to ask their loved ones for a loan rather than an outright gift. Of course, you must repay the money someday, and your bank or institutional lender will factor this addition to your debt burden into its own decision on whether to loan you money.
If your friend or family member wants to give you a no-interest loan, make sure the loan is not more than $100,000. If you borrow more, the IRS will slap on what it considers to be market-rate interest, better known as "imputed interest," on the lender.
Everyone legally has the option to borrow from family or friends if both parties are willing. If you handle loaning money correctly, everyone can end up winning. These loans are often referred to as private home loans, a personal loan or an intra-family loan. They are not as uncommon as you might imagine.
6 Let's say you were giving a loan to a family member for $10,000 to be paid back in one year. You would need to charge the borrower a minimum interest rate of 4.30% for the loan. In other words, you should receive $430 in interest from the loan. In our example above, any rate below 4.30% could trigger a taxable event.
Once executed a loan agreement will be legally binding and in effect.
According to the buy, borrow, die strategy, leveraging assets as collateral allows you to borrow money while preserving the value of the underlying assets. Rather than selling off investments for cash and incurring capital gains tax, you can borrow against your assets instead.
Unless you have gifted more than $12.92 million over your lifetime, you can almost certainly give a $50,000 down payment to your daughter or other family member and not owe gift taxes in 2023. Just be careful to do the paperwork right, otherwise, it could complicate the loan.
An intrafamily loan lets a borrower finance a home with funds lent by a relative. It can save the borrower money and act as an estate-planning tool for the lender.
Filing Form 709
On this form, you'll notify the IRS of your gift. The IRS uses this form to track gift money you give in excess of the annual exclusion throughout your lifetime. Therefore, you'll be asked for the amount of the gift and the amount over the annual exclusion amount.
Unless you have gifted over $13.51 million in your lifetime, there is no gift tax on $50,000. The $50,000 needs to be disclosed to the IRS for every dollar over the $18,000 annual exclusion, and will simply count against your $12 million lifetime exclusion.
You don't have to report gifts to the IRS unless the amount exceeds $17,000 in 2023. Any gifts exceeding $17,000 in a year must be reported and contribute to your lifetime exclusion amount. You can gift up to $12.92 million over your lifetime without paying a gift tax on it (as of 2023).