26 U.S.C. § 7872
Treatment of loans with below-market interest rates
United States · Title 26 — INTERNAL REVENUE CODE · Status: effective
Cite this
- Citation
- 26 U.S.C. § 7872, Treatment of loans with below-market interest rates, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/464597
- Permanent ID
ys:prov:464597@1- SHA-256
c33e8c2055acbe28301183d1ed22e2967bbf1fa5ffb2d6e6ef0d095716c16bbd
The hash is SHA-256 of this version's text, with every run of whitespace collapsed to a single space and the ends trimmed. The ID always leads back here, and checking it says whether the text you cited is still the current version.
Full text
For purposes of this title, in the case of any below-market loan to which this section applies and which is a gift loan or a demand loan, the forgone interest shall be treated as—
Except as otherwise provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, any forgone interest attributable to periods during any calendar year shall be treated as transferred (and retransferred) under paragraph (1) on the last day of such calendar year.
For purposes of this title, in the case of any below-market loan to which this section applies and to which subsection (a)(1) does not apply, the lender shall be treated as having transferred on the date the loan was made (or, if later, on the first day on which this section applies to such loan), and the borrower shall be treated as having received on such date, cash in an amount equal to the excess of—
For purposes of this title—
Any below-market loan to which paragraph (1) applies shall be treated as having original issue discount in an amount equal to the excess described in paragraph (1).
Any original issue discount which a loan is treated as having by reason of subparagraph (A) shall be in addition to any other original issue discount on such loan (determined without regard to subparagraph (A)).
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection (g), this section shall apply to—
Any below-market loan which is a gift loan.
Any below-market loan directly or indirectly between—
Any below-market loan directly or indirectly between a corporation and any shareholder of such corporation.
Any below-market loan 1 of the principal purposes of the interest arrangements of which is the avoidance of any Federal tax.
To the extent provided in regulations, any below-market loan which is not described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (F) if the interest arrangements of such loan have a significant effect on any Federal tax liability of the lender or the borrower.
Any loan to any qualified continuing care facility pursuant to a continuing care contract.
In the case of any gift loan directly between individuals, this section shall not apply to any day on which the aggregate outstanding amount of loans between such individuals does not exceed $10,000.
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any gift loan directly attributable to the purchase or carrying of income-producing assets.
For limitation on amount treated as interest where loans do not exceed $100,000, see subsection (d)(1).
In the case of any loan described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1), this section shall not apply to any day on which the aggregate outstanding amount of loans between the borrower and lender does not exceed $10,000.
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any loan the interest arrangements of which have as 1 of their principal purposes the avoidance of any Federal tax.
For purposes of subtitle A, in the case of a gift loan directly between individuals, the amount treated as retransferred by the borrower to the lender as of the close of any year shall not exceed the borrower’s net investment income for such year.
Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any loan the interest arrangements of which have as 1 of their principal purposes the avoidance of any Federal tax.
For purposes of subparagraph (A), in any case in which a borrower has outstanding more than 1 gift loan, the net investment income of such borrower shall be allocated among such loans in proportion to the respective amounts which would be treated as retransferred by the borrower without regard to this paragraph.
This paragraph shall not apply to any loan made by a lender to a borrower for any day on which the aggregate outstanding amount of loans between the borrower and lender exceeds $100,000.
For purposes of this paragraph—
The term “net investment income” has the meaning given such term by section 163(d)(4).
If the net investment income of any borrower for any year does not exceed $1,000, the net investment income of such borrower for such year shall be treated as zero.
In determining the net investment income of a person for any year, any amount which would be included in the gross income of such person for such year by reason of section 1272 if such section applied to all deferred payment obligations shall be treated as interest received by such person for such year.
The term “deferred payment obligation” includes any market discount bond, short-term obligation, United States savings bond, annuity, or similar obligation.
In the case of any gift loan which is a term loan, subsection (b)(1) (and not subsection (a)) shall apply for purposes of chapter 12.
For purposes of this section—
The term “below-market loan” means any loan if—
The term “forgone interest” means, with respect to any period during which the loan is outstanding, the excess of—
For purposes of this section—
The present value of any payment shall be determined in the manner provided by regulations prescribed by the Secretary—
In the case of any term loan, the applicable Federal rate shall be the applicable Federal rate in effect under section 1274(d) (as of the day on which the loan was made), compounded semiannually.
In the case of a demand loan, the applicable Federal rate shall be the Federal short-term rate in effect under section 1274(d) for the period for which the amount of forgone interest is being determined, compounded semiannually.
The term “gift loan” means any below-market loan where the forgoing of interest is in the nature of a gift.
The term “amount loaned” means the amount received by the borrower.
The term “demand loan” means any loan which is payable in full at any time on the demand of the lender. Such term also includes (for purposes other than determining the applicable Federal rate under paragraph (2)) any loan if the benefits of the interest arrangements of such loan are not transferable and are conditioned on the future performance of substantial services by an individual. To the extent provided in regulations, such term also includes any loan with an indefinite maturity.
The term “term loan” means any loan which is not a demand loan.
A husband and wife shall be treated as 1 person.
This section shall not apply to any loan to which section 483, 643(i), or 1274 applies.
No amount shall be withheld under chapter 24 with respect to—
If this section applies to any term loan on any day, this section shall continue to apply to such loan notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). In the case of a gift loan, the preceding sentence shall only apply for purposes of chapter 12.
In the case of any term loan made by an employer to an employee the proceeds of which are used by the employee to purchase a principal residence (within the meaning of section 121), the determination of the applicable Federal rate shall be made as of the date the written contract to purchase such residence was entered into.
Subparagraph (A) shall only apply to the purchase of a principal residence in connection with the commencement of work by an employee or a change in the principal place of work of an employee to which section 217 applies.
This section shall not apply for any calendar year to any below-market loan made by a lender to a qualified continuing care facility pursuant to a continuing care contract if the lender (or the lender’s spouse) attains age 65 before the close of such year.
Paragraph (1) shall apply only to the extent that the aggregate outstanding amount of any loan to which such paragraph applies (determined without regard to this paragraph), when added to the aggregate outstanding amount of all other previous loans between the lender (or the lender’s spouse) and any qualified continuing care facility to which paragraph (1) applies, does not exceed $90,000.
For purposes of this section, the term “continuing care contract” means a written contract between an individual and a qualified continuing care facility under which—
the individual or individual’s spouse—
will first—
For purposes of this section, the term “qualified continuing care facility” means 1 or more facilities—
A facility shall not be treated as a qualified continuing care facility unless substantially all facilities which are used to provide services which are required to be provided under a continuing care contract are owned or operated by the borrower.
The term “qualified continuing care facility” shall not include any facility which is of a type which is traditionally considered a nursing home.
In the case of any loan made during any calendar year after 1986, the dollar amount in paragraph (2) shall be increased by an amount equal to—
Paragraph (1) shall not apply for any calendar year to which subsection (h) applies.
This section shall not apply for any calendar year to any below-market loan owed by a facility which on the last day of such year is a qualified continuing care facility, if such loan was made pursuant to a continuing care contract and if the lender (or the lender’s spouse) attains age 62 before the close of such year.
For purposes of this section, the term “continuing care contract” means a written contract between an individual and a qualified continuing care facility under which—
the individual or individual’s spouse will be provided with housing, as appropriate for the health of such individual or individual’s spouse—
For purposes of this section, the term “qualified continuing care facility” means 1 or more facilities—
The term “qualified continuing care facility” shall not include any facility which is of a type which is traditionally considered a nursing home.
The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section, including—
Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, any loan which is made with donative intent and which is a term loan shall be taken into account for purposes of chapter 11 in a manner consistent with the provisions of subsection (b).
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone.
- Deficit Reduction Act of 1984House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to simplify the imputed interest rules of sections 1274 and 483, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Tax Reform Act of 1986House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996
- Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
- Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998
- Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001
- Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005
- Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- An act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.