Description: Read the February 2018 issue of Taxing Times published by the The Taxation Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: The article discusses the practical impact of recently Rev. Rul. 2014-7, which modified and supercedes Rev. Rul. 2007-54 by republishing the position of what variable annuity contract reserves are taken into for tax purposes without addressing the issue of how to calculate required interest for separate accounts; Rev. Rul. 2014-7 also obsoleted Rev. Rul. 2007-61, which had suspended Rev. Rul. 2007-54.

Description: Actuary/accountant/tax attorney dialogue on recent guidance issued regarding treatment of deficiency reserves with respect to the “statutory reserves cap” of Internal Revenue Code section 807(d)(1).

Description: To most observers, the value of a life insurance contract is the cash surrender value. However, when it comes to life insurance and the Internal Revenue Code, things are seldom as simple as they appear on the surface.

Description: Overview of reinsurance: its purpose and uses, its different forms, and the tax results and issues that can arise in reinsurance transactions.

Description: This article addresses changes to the IRS Appeals Conference.

Description: How including the intent and rationale of the tax law in system specifications can lead to better software system designs.

Description: This article addresses the scope of reserve valuation rules that compute or estimate reserves “on the basis of recognized mortality or morbidity tables, and assumed rates of interest.”

Description: The proposed regulations define a class of products known as “qualifying longevity annuity contracts” (QLACs), which are excluded from the account balance used to determine required minimum distributions. By exempting longevity annuities (up to a specified limit) from the RMD rules, it is hoped that it will provide individuals under defined-contribution plans the option to use an “affordable” portion of their account balance to purchase a longevity annuity. The proposed regulations apply to tax-qualified defined-contribution plans under section 401(a), section 403(b), individual retirement annuities and accounts (IRAs) under section 408, and eligible governmental section 457 plans.

Description: Results of survey, conducted recently by the Taxation Section of the Society of Actuaries, on how federal income tax is reflected in the projection work being performed.