Legal interest (2024)

Statutory interest diagram from 2014 to 2023

Here is the bar chart showing the legal interest rate in the Netherlands from 2014 to 2023.The green bars show the legal interest rate for non-commercial transactions and the red bars show the legal interest rate for commercial transactions.

What is the purpose of statutory commercial interest

The purpose of statutory commercial interest is to provide statutory compensation for the use of capital in business-to-business commercial transactions, or between businesses and government agencies.

It is intended to encourage parties to pay on time and to compensate for the financial consequences of a late payment, such as, for example, missing income, having to pay extra interest to third parties or taking out extra financing to cover liquidity needs. cover.

Statutory commercial interest provides companies with a legal instrument to enforce payment and ensures that the payment risk is shared more fairly between the trading parties.It can also help improve business cash flow and avoid bankruptcies due to late payments.

By setting a statutory interest rate, parties are encouraged tomeet theirpayment obligations , creating more certainty and stability in trade relations between companies and between companies and governments.

How do you calculate the statutory commercial interest

The statutory commercial interest is aninterest ratethat is calculated on the outstanding amount of a commercial transaction where the payment term has expired.The statutory commercial interest is calculated as follows:

• Determine the period over which the interest is calculated: This is the period between the due date of the payment term and the date when the payment is finally received.
• Determine the amount on which the interest is calculated: This is the amount of the outstanding claim, including any collection costs and other costs.
• Determine the interest rate: For non-trade transactions, the interest rate for 2023 (2nd half year, from 1 July ) is 6%.For commercial transactions, the interest rate for 2023 (2nd half year, from 1 July ) is 12.00%.
• Calculate the statutory commercial interest: Multiply the amount on which the interest is calculated by the interest rate, and divide by 100. This is the amount of statutory commercial interest that must be paid over the period.

Example statutory interest:If the outstanding amount of a commercial transaction is €10,000 and the payment term has expired, the following interest must be calculated at an interest rate of 12.00% over the period in which the payment was overdue:

(€10,000 x 12.00%) / 100 = 1200

In this example, the statutory commercial interest is therefore €1200.This amount is in addition to the outstanding amount of € 10,000 that still has to be paid.

What is compound or simple interest?

If theinterestis simple, it means that the interest is calculated on the original amount due, without the interest itself being included in the calculation of the interest for the subsequent period.

Withcompound interest,the interest is added to the outstanding amount, so that interest is calculated on interest and the total amount increases faster and faster.This is not the case with simple interest and interest is only calculated on the original amount due.

Is statutory commercial interest required?

Yes, the statutory commercial interest is mandatory for commercial transactions between companies, or between companies and government institutions.

The legal interest ensures that the parties receive a legally determined remuneration for the use of capital in commercial transactions.As a result, the payment obligations between trading parties are distributed more fairly and it can help to prevent bankruptcies due to late payments.

Failure to comply with the payment obligation can lead to legal proceedings, in which the court will in most cases rule that the statutory commercial interest must be paid as compensation for the delayed payment.

It is therefore wise for companies to comply with the payment terms and to pay on time to avoid extra costs.

Experienced specialists

Would you like to know more about the statutory interest or are you curious about how we can use it in your situation?Naturally, as a debt collection agency, we like to thinkalong with you about both the amicable and anylegal proceedingsfor collection.In this way we ensure that youreceive payment for your outstanding claim or outstandinginvoice .

What customers say

“Our company is in fashion and we want to keep our focus on the core business.That’s why it’s very nice to have Credifin as a safety net!They unburden us and thanks to them we almost always receive all payments.”State of Brands

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