Imputed Interest on Seller Finance Deals below AFR

[Joshua Seward]

I am very interested in pursuing seller finance deals and really like the idea of aiming for 0% interest (or anything under the AFR for the purpose of this post). That being said, I never want to do anything unethical that may put the seller in a bad position to have their profits dipped into by the IRS with imputed interest. I hear it almost never gets called and if it does it is usually a CPA bringing it up while filing the tax return, not the IRS coming back afterwards to apply tax to the assumed interest. That being said, I don't want to feel like I am doing anything "shady", for lack of a better term, banking on the IRS not stepping in.

I see many people have been doing 0% interest seller finance deals and have much more knowledge than me on this topic. Is there certain verbiage you put in the contract or maybe a certain response you give to the seller's CPA if they catch the interest below the AFR that protects them from any negative recourse?

This has been the one thing hanging me up since I want to make sure I do right by the seller and am also not breaking any IRS regulations.

Searching for any input from CPAs/tax professionals specifically & anyone that has experience working with this situation. 

Thanks so much for your guidance!