Description: This article describes the effect of different valuation interest rates and levels of surplus on income tax paid by life insurance companies via Phase 1 of the Federal Income Tax Act of 1959.

Description: Recent guidance in the form of Rev. Proc. 2006- 13 provides a general safe harbor for the fair market value of a deferred-annuity contract when determining the amount includible in income on conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Description: A discussion of how issuers and providers of IRAs and employer-provided qualified retirement plans need to consider all situations and possibly modify their administrative systems and/or procedures for purposes of administering the IRAs and plans in accordance with the RMD required minimum distribution rules.

Description: Owners of nonqualified annuity contracts, individuals under qualified retirement plans, and annuity issuers are left without any published guidance on when annuity payments can be used to satisfy the SEPP [Substantially Equal Periodic Payments] exceptions to the 10 percent penalty tax under sections 72q2D and 72t2Aiv. This article discusses that problem. The insurance industry requested guidance on this issue.8

Description: On Aug. 11, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service IRS released Notice 2011-68,1 regarding the tax treatment of stand-alone and “combination” longtermcare LTC insurance products. The Notice provides interim guidance on certain issues and requests public comment on others. This article discusses that notice and taxation issues related to Long Term Care products, combination products and long term care riders to annuities.

Description: The interaction of section 7702 cash value accumulation test [CVAT] and state nonforfeiture laws [SNFL] create a dual limitation on traditional life insurance contratcs. CVAT limiting the maximum permissible cash value and SNFL requiring a minimum cash surrender value. This article examines these dual limitations.

Description: The actuarial committee that authored this report developed a model to estimate the revenue the tax would generate. The results point out key considerations for an excise tax on high cost health plans, including the wide range of results generated by sensitivity to certain assumptions.

Description: Overview of latest developments on IRC Section 7702, IRC Section 848, market value adjusted contracts, companies in rehabilitation and Canadian issues including: • Part I income tax • Part IV capital tax

Description: The U.S. Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 has created a very significant administrative problem for companies having a large block of “grandfathered” universal life business. The problem is that seemingly harmless future changes in benefits are categorized as “material changes,” causing a policy to lose its grandfather status and subjecting it to the “modified endowment” rules.

Description: On May 24, 2005, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service published a notice of proposed rulemaking the “Notice” proposing regulations under Internal Revenue Code §7702, the federal tax definition of a “life insurance contract.” Discussion of determining 'attained age' for joint or multiple life policies.