Description: The Tidbit summarizes LTRs 201609008 and 201613016 and discusses the definition of insurance under the tax code in light of these new pieces of guidance from the IRS.

Description: In order to encourage health insurance issuers to offer health insurance coverage on the Exchange and on the individual and small group markets, while ameliorating the potential impact on any particular health insurance issuer of providing coverage without pricing for pre-existing conditions or the gender of the insured, the Affordable Care Act includes three risk-sharing programs: the Transitional Reinsurance program, the Risk Corridor program and the Risk Adjustment program (collectively referred to as the “3Rs”). The financial and tax reporting of each health insurance issuer is affected by the implementation of these risk-sharing programs because each health insurance issuer is required to pay for the programs’ costs, and some issuers are or will be eligible for benefits under them.

Description: The Internal Revenue Service “the Service” or “IRS” recently released Technical Advice Memorandum 200939019 “the TAM”. The TAM initially caused a stir among some in the insurance tax industry because it disallows a tax deduction that was permitted on the NAIC Annual Statement hereinafter “NAIC statement”. Specifically, the TAM states that unpaid loss adjustment expenses “LAE” for retiree medical benefits may only be deducted in the tax year in which the benefits are included in income by the employee who earned the benefits, despite the fact the amounts were properly included on the NAIC statement and regardless of deductibility of the unpaid LAE under the Internal Revenue Code “the Code”. This article discusses the memorandum.

Description: Notice 2004-611 is the latest in a series of administrative pronouncements from the Internal Revenue Service related to the appropriate mortality assumptions to be used in computing the definitional limitations under Internal Revenue Code Section 7702 and the seven-pay limitation under the Section 7702A modified endowment rules.

Description: Discusses taxation of derivatives, as changed for some types under Dodd-Frank and not changed for others.

Description: Tells what occurred after the adverse private letter ruling PLR 200738016 up to the issuance of the revenue procedure, and offers some speculation about the future.

Description: This article summarizes a recent revenue ruling concerning the insurance company qualification of an affiliate that reinsures retiree health benefits under an arrangement entered into by a VEBA.

Description: This article reviews the definition of “cash surrender value” in section 7702f2A and in the regulations proposed under that provision but never finalized. The discussion then recaps the 2005 Rulings and describes the recently issued letter rulings.

Description: The article provides a summary of the 2017 Tax CUts and Jobs Act provisions that are most important to life insurance companies.

Description: The article summarizes the provisions of H.R. 1 that impact the tax qualification of life insurance contracts and the tax reporting of life settlements