Rates, fees and comparisons
SBA guaranty fee: the FY 2027 schedule, worked out on your loan
SBA’s one-time fee on 7(a) loans approved from October 1, 2026, the start of SBA’s fiscal year (FY) 2027. It is charged on the part of the loan SBA guarantees, not the whole loan, and is usually added to the loan.
Independent site, not a lender and not affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Loans are applied for only with an SBA lender.
SBA guaranty fee, FY 2027
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
One-time SBA guaranty fee
$11,250
| Guaranteed portion | $375,000 (75%) |
| Rate applied to it | 3.00% |
| Same loan approved last year (FY 2026) | $11,250 |
For loans approved October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027 (fiscal year 2027), SBA notice 5000-881797. Loans of 12 months or less pay 0.25% instead.
The SBA guaranty fee, also called the upfront fee, is a one-time charge on every 7(a) loan with a term over 12 months. For loans approved from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, SBA Information Notice 5000-881797 sets it at 2% of the guaranteed portion for loans of $150,000 or less, 3% for loans up to $700,000, and 3.5% of the guaranteed portion up to $1,000,000 plus 3.75% above that for larger loans. Because SBA guarantees 85% or 75% of a standard loan, a $100,000 loan pays $1,700 and a $500,000 loan $11,250. Manufacturers, listed food supply chain businesses and businesses in rural areas pay nothing on loans of $700,000 or less. Loans of 12 months or less pay 0.25%. The fee is usually added to the loan rather than paid in cash.
Fee notices read and loan file counted by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The schedule on real amounts
| Loan | Guaranteed | Fee, FY 2027 | Share of the loan | Manufacturer or rural, now | Manufacturer, FY 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $42,500 | $850 | 1.70% | $0 | $0 |
| $150,000 | $127,500 | $2,550 | 1.70% | $0 | $0 |
| $250,000 | $187,500 | $5,625 | 2.25% | $0 | $0 |
| $500,000 | $375,000 | $11,250 | 2.25% | $0 | $0 |
| $700,000 | $525,000 | $15,750 | 2.25% | $0 | $0 |
| $1,000,000 | $750,000 | $26,250 | 2.63% | $26,250 | $26,250 |
| $2,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $53,750 | 2.69% | $53,750 | $53,750 |
| $5,000,000 | $3,750,000 | $138,125 | 2.76% | $138,125 | $138,125 |
Two cliffs worth knowing
The fee is not graduated like an income tax: the whole guaranteed amount takes the rate of its band. Going from $150,000 to $150,001 drops the guaranty from 85% to 75% but raises the rate from 2% to 3%, adding $825 to the fee for one extra dollar. Crossing $700,000 adds $2,625. If a project is close to either line, borrowing a little less, or putting in a little more cash, can be worth more than a quarter point of rate.
The relief has a cliff too. Up to $700,000 a qualifying business pays nothing; one dollar more and it pays the full fee on the whole guaranteed amount. In FY 2026 manufacturers had relief up to $950,000, so a manufacturer borrowing $900,000 now pays $23,625 where it paid nothing a year earlier.
Who qualifies for the zero fee
Three kinds of business pay no fee on a 7(a) loan of $700,000 or less approved under FY 2027. Manufacturers: businesses whose industry code, the NAICS code on their tax and loan forms, starts with 31, 32 or 33; machine shops, metal fabricators and food processors are among them. The food supply chain: the list in the notice covers farming and ranching codes, a few wholesale codes, grocery stores, refrigerated and farm-product trucking and refrigerated warehousing. Rural businesses: the test is the address of the business, under SBA’s own definition of a rural area, and this site cannot run it for you. Ask the lender to check your address before you sign, since on a $500,000 loan the answer is worth $11,250. For SBA Express, a business owned by a veteran pays no fee at any amount up to the Express limit, see SBA Express.
What the fee does to the true rate
Take $500,000 over 10 years at 10.00%, the highest rate SBA allows today for that size. With the $11,250 fee financed, the payment is $6,756; measured on the $500,000 the business actually receives, that is an effective rate of 10.53%, 0.53 point above the note rate. The calculator on the home page shows that effective rate for any quote, so two offers with different fees can be compared on one figure.