Florida Statutory Interest Rate Calculator: Formula and Exceptions

To calculate interest on a Florida judgment, multiply the unpaid judgment amount by the statutory annual interest rate in effect, then divide by the number of days in the year to get a daily figure. Florida uses simple interest, not compound. The rate for the quarter beginning April 1, 2026 is 8.25% per year, which works out to a daily rate of 0.0226027%.¹ The rate that attaches to your judgment is the one in effect on the day the court entered it, and it holds through December 31 of that year before adjusting each January 1 until the judgment is paid.²

What You Need Before You Start

Pull these items together first:

The principal amount awarded, as stated on the face of the judgment.
The exact date the judgment was signed and entered. Interest begins accruing that day.
Taxable costs the court added to the judgment, such as filing fees, service charges, and any awarded attorney fees. In Florida circuit court the filing fee alone can be up to $395 for a standard civil case. These usually get added to the principal before interest runs.³
Every partial payment the debtor has made, with the exact date and amount.
The statutory rate for the quarter when the judgment was entered, plus the rate effective on each later January 1 if the judgment remains unpaid across calendar years.

The judgment should state its interest rate on its face. Any writ sent to a sheriff for execution has to include the rate as well, and a sheriff can refuse to act on a writ that leaves it out.²

Current and Recent Statutory Rates

The Chief Financial Officer publishes the rates on the Florida Department of Financial Services website, with both the annual and daily figures. Recent quarters:¹

April 1, 2026: 8.25% per year (daily rate 0.0226027%)
January 1, 2026: 8.44% per year (daily rate 0.0231233%)
October 1, 2025: 8.65% per year (daily rate 0.0236986%)
July 1, 2025: 8.90% per year

If your judgment has been outstanding for several years, you will need the rate that was effective on each January 1 across its life. The CFO’s historical table goes back decades and lists the daily rate as both a percentage and a decimal, which saves a step in the arithmetic.¹

The Daily Formula, Worked Through

The math is simple interest on a daily basis. Take the amount owed, multiply by the annual rate, divide by the days in the year, and multiply by the number of days the balance has been outstanding at that rate.

Take a $10,000 judgment entered on March 15, 2026, when the applicable rate is 8.44%:

Daily interest: $10,000 × 0.0844 ÷ 365 = $2.3123 per day
Days from March 15 through December 31, 2026: 291 days
Interest accrued through year-end: $2.3123 × 291 = $672.88

If the judgment is still unpaid on January 1, 2027, switch to the rate the CFO has set for the quarter beginning that January 1. Run the same daily calculation using the new rate for 2027, then add the totals from each year together to get the running interest balance.²

One wrinkle: in leap years, the daily rate is calculated by dividing the annual rate by 366 instead of 365. If you take the daily figure straight from the CFO’s historical table, that adjustment is already built in.¹

Applying Partial Payments

When the debtor pays something, the standard practice in Florida is to apply the payment first to accrued interest and then to the remaining principal, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. The order matters because it changes the base the daily interest runs against going forward.

Say $500 in interest has accrued on a $10,000 judgment and the debtor pays $1,000. The payment wipes out the $500 in interest first, then knocks the principal down to $9,500. From that date forward, your daily calculation uses $9,500, not $10,000. Keeping the base at $10,000 overstates what the debtor still owes.

When the Rate Doesn’t Reset Each January

Most judgments pick up a new rate every January 1 until paid. The statute carves out four categories of clerk-entered judgments that keep the original rate for the life of the judgment with no annual adjustment:²

Section 55.141 judgments entered by the clerk on an affidavit of the amount due, often used for liquidated debts when the defendant does not respond.
Section 61.14 judgments enforcing alimony and child support obligations.
Sections 938.29 and 938.30 judgments for unpaid costs of prosecution and public defender fees in criminal cases.

If your judgment fits one of those, lock in the rate from the entry date and use it from start to finish.

When a Contract Rate Replaces the Statutory Rate

The statutory rate is a default. If the underlying obligation is a written contract that specifies its own interest rate, the contract rate controls, and Section 55.03 explicitly says it does not disturb an interest rate established by a written contract or obligation.² A promissory note or commercial contract calling for 12% on unpaid balances will carry that 12% into the judgment. If the contract says nothing about interest, the statutory rate applies.

Judgments From Federal Court Are Different

If the case was in a United States District Court in Florida rather than a Florida state court, none of the above applies. Federal post-judgment interest runs under 28 U.S.C. § 1961, which uses the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the calendar week before the judgment date, and compounds annually rather than running as simple interest.⁴ The federal rate is typically lower than Florida’s because it carries no equivalent to the 400-basis-point markup built into the state formula.

1
MyFloridaCFO.com. Judgment Interest Rates
2
Justia Law. Florida Code 55.03 – Judgments Rate of Interest Generally
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 28.241 – Filing Fees
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest