The Louisiana judicial interest rate for 2026 is 7.5% per year, applied as simple interest on a money judgment from the date the lawsuit is filed until the judgment is paid. The rate is reset every calendar year by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and posted on the Office of Financial Institutions website.1Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions. Judicial Interest Rates Because the rate changes annually, any case that stretches across more than one calendar year uses more than one rate.
Recent Annual Rates
If your case has been pending for a while, you will need each year’s rate, not just the current one. The recent rates are:1Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions. Judicial Interest Rates
- 2026: 7.50%
- 2025: 8.25%
- 2024: 8.75%
- 2023: 6.50%
- 2022: 3.50%
- 2021: 3.50%
- 2020: 5.75%
The swings are large. On a $200,000 judgment, moving from 3.50% to 8.75% is more than $10,000 in a single year. That is why the correct rate for each calendar year period matters.
The rate is set under Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:4202. On the first business day of October, the Commissioner takes the Federal Reserve discount rate published in the Wall Street Journal and adds 3.25 percentage points. That figure becomes the judicial interest rate for the following calendar year.2Justia. Louisiana Code 13-4202 – Rates of Judicial Interest
When Interest Starts Running
For tort claims, including personal injury, property damage, and wrongful death, interest runs from the date of judicial demand, which generally means the date the petition is filed with the court.3Justia. Louisiana Code 13-4203 – Interest on Judgments From Judicial Demand in Ex Delicto Cases Interest keeps accruing the entire time the case is pending and continues until the judgment is paid.
Contract cases can start earlier. When the claim is for a specific sum of money owed under a contract, Louisiana Civil Code Article 2000 measures damages for delay by interest from the date the sum became due, which may predate the lawsuit. For contract claims where the amount is not fixed in advance, interest runs from the date of judicial demand, the same as a tort case.
Workers’ compensation follows its own rule. Interest accrues from the date each compensation payment was due, and the applicable rate is locked in at the rate in effect on the date the claim was filed with the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 23-1201.3 That means one rate applies for the whole calculation, with no annual updating.
How to Calculate the Interest
Louisiana judicial interest is simple interest. It accrues on the principal judgment only and does not compound. The formula:
Interest = Principal × Rate × (Days ÷ 365)
Single-Year Example
A plaintiff files suit on March 1, 2026, wins a $50,000 judgment, and is paid on November 15, 2026. That is 259 days at 7.50%:
$50,000 × 0.075 × (259 ÷ 365) = $2,661.99
Total owed: $52,661.99.
Multi-Year Example
When a case crosses calendar years, calculate each year separately at that year’s rate. The statute sets rates “for a lawsuit pending or filed during the indicated periods,” so the rate in effect during each calendar year governs the days falling in that year.2Justia. Louisiana Code 13-4202 – Rates of Judicial Interest
Suppose a $100,000 judgment where suit was filed on July 1, 2024, and payment happens on June 30, 2026:
- 2024 (July 1 – Dec 31, 184 days at 8.75%): $100,000 × 0.0875 × (184 ÷ 365) = $4,410.96
- 2025 (365 days at 8.25%): $100,000 × 0.0825 = $8,250.00
- 2026 (Jan 1 – June 30, 181 days at 7.50%): $100,000 × 0.075 × (181 ÷ 365) = $3,719.18
Total interest: $16,380.14. The defendant owes $116,380.14. Applying a single year’s rate across the whole period would miss the number by hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Claims Against the State or a Political Subdivision
Suits against the state, a parish, a city, or a school board follow Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:5112 instead of the standard judicial interest rate. For personal injury and wrongful death claims, interest accrues at a flat 6% per year from the date service is requested until the trial judge signs the judgment.5FindLaw. Louisiana Code 13-5112 – Suits Against the State or Political Subdivision; Court Costs; Interest After the judgment is signed under Code of Civil Procedure Article 1911, the rate shifts to the legal interest rate under Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:3500 rather than continuing at the judicial interest rate.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 1911 – Final Judgment; Signing; Appeals
Two things are worth noting. The trigger is the date service is requested, which can be slightly after the filing date. And on a $100,000 personal injury judgment in 2026, the gap between 6% and 7.5% is $1,500 per year in lost interest to the plaintiff compared to a case against a private defendant.
Federal Court Judgments
If the case is in federal court, post-judgment interest follows 28 U.S.C. § 1961 rather than the Louisiana rate. Federal post-judgment interest runs from the date the judgment is entered, at a rate tied to the weekly average one-year constant maturity Treasury yield for the week before entry, compounded annually and computed daily.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest
Pre-judgment interest is a different question. In diversity cases applying Louisiana substantive law, federal courts generally follow Louisiana’s pre-judgment rules, so interest runs from judicial demand at the Louisiana rate until the judgment is entered. The federal rate takes over only after entry.
Tax Treatment of the Interest
Interest on a judgment is taxable, even when the underlying damages are not. The IRS treats it as ordinary interest income.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 4345 – Settlements, Taxability In a personal injury case, the compensatory damages are generally excluded from gross income under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2), but the interest portion is fully taxable.
On a $200,000 personal injury judgment with $30,000 in accrued judicial interest, the $200,000 is generally tax-free and the $30,000 is not. The payer must issue a Form 1099-INT if the interest is $10 or more.9Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-INT, Interest Income Settlement agreements that separate the interest component from the principal make reporting cleaner for both sides.
Common Calculation Errors
The most frequent mistake is running a single year’s rate across a case that spans multiple calendar years. Verify each year’s rate on the Office of Financial Institutions website before doing the math.
The second is getting the start date wrong. For tort cases the clock begins on the filing date of the petition, not the date of injury, service, or judgment. For contract claims involving a fixed sum, it may begin when the money was due. Workers’ compensation runs from each unpaid installment.
The third is applying the wrong kind of interest. Louisiana state court judicial interest is simple. Federal post-judgment interest under 28 U.S.C. § 1961 compounds annually and is computed daily.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1961 – Interest Swapping the two will overstate or understate the amount.
The fourth is missing the government entity exception. A judgment against the state or a political subdivision uses the 6% flat rate under Section 13:5112 for personal injury and wrongful death claims, and the post-judgment rate switches to the legal interest rate rather than the judicial rate.5FindLaw. Louisiana Code 13-5112 – Suits Against the State or Political Subdivision; Court Costs; Interest