Paying Interest on Loan to Your Business

[FortAdobe]

I have had to loan my business money from my personal account different years when we had hard times in order to keep the business afloat.  I've paid myself back for some of the money, but I end up loaning again a couple years later when we have had difficult times.  Can I charge my business an interest rate of say 2% for the outstanding balance remaining of the monies I have loaned to my business and can I report it to IRS the same as when I took out a small business loan (they sent 1098 forms)?

[AmyC]

It depends. The amount of the loan and the going interest rate along with your relationship and proof you are not just trying to avoid taxes all play into the answer. See this TurboTax blog about Imputed Interest.