Description: These are legal notes concerning policy owner federal income tax, taxation to an agent for expenses for sales convention travel, claims contest on a policy with false statements on the application, timing on surrender of a life insurance policy immediately before death, permitted investment by a life insurance company in a property/casualty company, extraterritorial issues pertaining to regulation of group life insurance, and tax deduction for reserves on pension contracts covering its own employees.

Description: In February 2015, the Internal Revenue Service Chief Counsel appointed Alexis MacIvor as the chief of Branch 4 of the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (Financial Institutions & Products). That branch (sometimes referred to by our readers as the “Insurance Branch”) has seven attorneys who work exclusively on issues concerning the taxation of insurance companies and the products those companies issue. Because of the importance of that branch’s work product to the issues that life actuaries must address every day, the Taxing Times Editorial Board and the Taxation Section Council thought our readers would appreciate the opportunity to meet Alexis and welcome her to the insurance tax actuarial community. Mark Smith of our editorial board recently met with Ms. MacIvor to talk about her background and her new role.