Description: Comparison of statutory and tax accounting rules in treatment of non-performing assets.

Description: Discusses Notice 2011-02 as it addresses most, but not all, of the outstanding questions about health-care-insurance entities to which the $500,000 compensation rule applies.

Description: In March 2010, Congress codified the judicial economic substance doctrine in an effort to raise revenue as part of the health care reform legislation.1 The law provides for strict liability penalties of 20 percent for understated taxes and refund claims that result from transactions that lack economic substance. In July 2011, the commissioner of the Large Businessand International Division LB&I of the IRS evidently recognized this state of uncertainty and issued very helpful guidance to all LB&I examiners to fill the void on guidance for economic substance..

Description: This article begins with a brief review of the general requirements of section 7702A and the consequences of MEC status for a life insurance contract and continues with a description of the evolution of the inadvertent MEC correction procedures over the past near decade.

Description: Update to initial article in Sept. 2007 issue, because of two new revenue rulings: Rev. Rul. 2007-54, 2007-38 I.R.B. 604 and Rev. Rul. 2007-61, 2007-42 I.R.B. 799.

Description: Recently, the IRS eliminated one of the more amorphous tax rules that at times was a stumbling block in Triple-X securitization transactions. Unfortunately, however, the IRS left an equally amorphous consolidated return rule untouched.

Description: Discusses the meaning of statutory reserves with respect to a pending IRS ruling, in the case where different levels of statutory reserves are required in different states.

Description: SSAP 10R supersedes Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 10, Income Taxes “SSAP 10” and the new provisions set forth in this accounting principle are effective for year-end 2009 statutory financial statements. If elected, they provide, where appropriate, the ability to admit additional DTAs by increasing the projected realization period from one to three years along with increasing the statutory surplus limitation from 10 percent to 15 percent, provided the entity exceeds certain risk based capital “RBC” thresholds. SSAP 10R also makes explicit and gives definition to the implicit valuation allowance of SSAP 10, and increases transparency through its expanded disclosure requirements for all entities regardless of whether electing the expanded recognition provisions.

Description: September 2008 Supplement of the Taxation Section newsletter, Taxing Times

Description: Examines the Treasury Department and IRS guidance in determining whether a financial arrangement qualifies as insurance under federal tax law. It concerns the concepts of fortuity, homogeneity, and risk distribution, among others.