Editorial & data-integrity policy

Every number on this site is a legal figure someone may rely on to calculate what they owe or are owed. That is why accuracy — not volume — is the point. Here is exactly how we verify each rate, how often we re-check it, and what we do when we get something wrong.

How every rate is verified

We do not copy rates from other rate-aggregator sites, law-firm blog posts, or AI summaries. Each value is checked against the controlling primary source — the statute text, the court rule, or the agency certification that actually sets the rate — and we record the citation and the URL alongside the value. Rates fall into three kinds, and we treat each differently:

• Statute-fixed rates (e.g. a flat 12% written into the code) are verified word-for-word against the official legislature or court page, and re-checked on a schedule because a legislature can amend them.
• Agency- or court-set variable rates (a prime-rate or Treasury-linked formula reset each quarter or year) are read from the official agency page that publishes the current period's figure, with the effective period recorded.
• Derived rates (e.g. the federal post-judgment rate under 28 U.S.C. §1961, or Iowa's Treasury-plus-two formula) are computed by us from an official series using the governing statutory formula — and every such page shows the formula and links the underlying data, so you can check our arithmetic. We never present a computed number as authoritative without its formula and source.

When a rate has a genuine carve-out — a different figure for tort versus contract, for consumer debt, or against a government entity — we state it rather than flattening it into one number, because the wrong branch is as misleading as the wrong number.

How often each series is re-checked

The derived and market-linked federal, UK, and EU series refresh automatically every night from their official sources; a validation suite checks types, ranges, and cross-value consistency, and if anything fails the dataset is not published — stale or broken data never ships. The curated statutory and agency-set state rates are re-verified against their official sources on a rolling schedule and whenever a statutory reset date passes (many state rates reset each January 1 or July 1). Every page carries the effective date of the value it shows, and the full effective-date history is available on each rate page and through the free JSON API.

Corrections

If you believe a rate is wrong, email [email protected] with the page and, if you can, the official source. We check every report against the controlling primary source. If we confirm an error we correct it promptly and the change appears in our public rate-change log with its new effective date. Before reporting, it is worth opening the official source linked on the page — a rate may have changed at its statutory reset date since you last looked, which is exactly the kind of movement this site exists to track.

Independence & funding

StatuteRates is independent and supported by display advertising, not by subscriptions, sponsors, or referral deals with any law firm or vendor. Advertising never influences a rate: the numbers come only from the official sources, and the data and API are free and un-paywalled. Our advertising partner may set cookies — see the Privacy Policy.

Using & citing the data

The underlying figures are edicts of government (statutes, court rules, agency rates) and are in the public domain — free for anyone to use. Our compilation, wording, and effective-date provenance are our own work; you are welcome to cite or link to any page, and every rate page includes a one-click “Cite this page” citation. For programmatic access, the JSON API is free and needs no key. If you want to reuse the compiled dataset at scale, a short note to [email protected] is appreciated.

What we are — and are not

We are a reference for what the statutory, judgment, prejudgment, and tax interest rates currently are, with sources you can verify. We are not a law firm and this is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Which rate applies to a specific matter — and how it compounds, when it starts, and what carve-outs apply — is a legal question for the controlling statute and, where needed, a licensed professional. Always confirm the figure against the official source before you rely on it.