AFR Rates 2027: Not Yet Published (November 2026: 4.67%)

Updated October 16, 2026. Quick answer: The IRS has not published any applicable federal rate for 2027. Each month’s rates are determined during the month before it, so the first 2027 rates, for January, come in a ruling issued in December 2026. The most recent ruling, Rev. Rul. 2026-21, sets November 2026 at 4.67% short-term, 5.08% mid-term and 5.52% long-term, annual compounding. As of October 16, 2026 this page prints no 2027 figure and no estimate.

Month by month, before the IRS publishes each ruling: the February 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the March 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the April 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the May 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them and the June 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them.

The second half of 2027, month by month, and the year after, before the IRS publishes them: the July 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the August 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the September 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the October 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the November 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them, the December 2027 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them and the 2028 AFR rates when the IRS publishes them.

How the IRS sets next month’s rate

Section 1274(d)(1)(B) has the Secretary determine the short-term, mid-term and long-term rates during one calendar month for the next: each is the “rate which shall apply during the following calendar month”. That is why a month’s rate is public before the month begins, and why any 2027 month is not out until the IRS issues its ruling during the month before it. For each of the eleven 2026 rate months published so far, the IRS’s copy of the ruling is dated between the 15th and the 21st of the month before the rate month, shown below as the IRS server reports it.

The 2026 path, month by month

Eleven of the twelve 2026 rates are published. Annual-compounding AFR for each, and the section 7520 rate from the same ruling’s Table 5:

Across those eleven months the short-term rate ran from 3.56% (February) to 4.67% (November). That is a record of 2026, not a forecast of 2027.

What a January 2027 loan or sale reads

For a sale or exchange, section 1274(d)(2) uses “the lowest of the applicable Federal rates in effect for any month in the 3-calendar-month period ending with the 1st calendar month in which there is a binding contract in writing for such sale or exchange”. A January 2027 contract therefore looks back to November 2026, which is published, and December 2026, which is not. The month-by-month detail is on the January 2027 page.

Which tier a loan uses

The applicable federal rate comes from section 1274(d) and depends on the term of the debt instrument. Section 1274(d)(1)(A) sets the tier: “Not over 3 years” takes the short-term rate, “Over 3 years but not over 9 years” the mid-term rate and “Over 9 years” the long-term rate. The loan mechanics, including the dollar exceptions, are on the family loan minimum interest rate page, and the calculator turns a rate into dollars.

Common mistakes

• Using a 2026 rate for a loan made in 2027. Each month has its own ruling.
• Treating a rate quoted for a 2027 month before the IRS has published it as official. None is published yet.
• Reading the section 7520 rate as an AFR tier. It is a separate figure in the same ruling.
• Assuming the rate always moves in one direction. The eleven published 2026 months include a fall and a rise.

Related: January 2027 AFR rates, AFR rates by month, the 2026 AFR table, the 2025 AFR table, and the family loan minimum interest rate.

Sources

• Rev. Rul. 2026-2, Table 1 and Table 5 (January 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-02.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-3, Table 1 and Table 5 (February 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-03.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-6, Table 1 and Table 5 (March 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-06.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-7, Table 1 and Table 5 (April 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-07.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-9, Table 1 and Table 5 (May 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-09.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-11, Table 1 and Table 5 (June 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-11.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-12, Table 1 and Table 5 (July 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-12.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-13, Table 1 and Table 5 (August 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-13.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-17, Table 1 and Table 5 (September 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-17.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-19, Table 1 and Table 5 (October 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-19.pdf
• Rev. Rul. 2026-21, Table 1 and Table 5 (November 2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-26-21.pdf
• 26 U.S.C. 1274, determination of issue price in the case of certain debt instruments (GovInfo): https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/26/1274

Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 16, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.