The Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) is the minimum interest rate that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows for private loans. Each month, the IRS publishes a set of interest rates that it considers to be the minimum market rate for loans. Any interest rate that falls below this AFR would have tax implications. The IRS publishes these rates in accordance with Section 1274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.There are a few things to keep in mind when considering an AFR loan: first, because these loans are considered private transactions, they are not subject to many of the same regulations as traditional mortgages or other types of lending products; second, since there is no secondary market for AFR loans, borrowers should be prepared to hold on to their note until it matures; and third, while there is no prepayment penalty associated with an AFR loan product per set, if you do choose to pay off your loan before its maturity date you may end up forfeiting some or all of your accrued interest savings.