Borrow from your parents or the bank?

Start with what you can both carry

Discuss how much your parents can spare and which monthly payment you can carry. Also run the numbers without yearly help: a loan is still a repayment obligation. Put the amount, rate, fixed period, repayment, early repayment, sale, break-up and death in writing.

When can the interest be deductible?

For a new loan for your own home, interest deduction may be possible if you repay (annuity or linear) within 30 years, agree a market-conform rate, actually pay the interest and report the loan in your tax return. A loan for a car or holiday gives no home-interest deduction. Waived interest is not deductible.

Which rate do you agree?

Look at comparable financing. 6% is not automatically acceptable just because it's within the family, and a standard 25% mark-up is not allowed. The 4%, 5% and 6% buttons are for comparison; they don't prove a rate fits your loan.

How does a gift work alongside the loan?

In 2026 parents can gift their child €6,908 a year tax-free (combined); count other gifts in the same year. Record a gift separately and don't let interest simply lapse as a gift. €3,000 a year averages €250 a month, but a single transfer isn't in your account every month.

Repayment and cost are two different things

A monthly payment is interest plus principal. Interest is a financing cost; principal shrinks your debt. A lower monthly payment can mean less principal and therefore a higher remaining debt.

What does it mean for your parents?

Your parents receive interest and get their capital back gradually, but their money is tied up and they carry the risk that you can't pay. A claim usually falls in box 3; interest received is not the same as net return.