Description: This is an article about final tax regulations issued in April which provide helpful guidance on the acquisition of insurance companies pursuant to an election under section 338 of the Internal Revenue Code and assumption reinsurance of blocks of insurance when accompanied by the acquisition of other business assets.

Description: A detailed discussion on Private Letter Ruling 20123009 which states that owners of life insurance contracts in some circumstances want to decrease their death benefits and that the decreases contemplated are not ones resulting from application of a formula or other provision set forth in the contracts.

Description: An extensive look at Actuarial Guideline 38, "The Application of the Valuation of Life Insurance Policies Model Regulation."

Description: The article reviews the results of a survey conducted by the taxation section to review the responses from its members.

Description: A discussion of the Open Transaction Doctrine and how it was applied to prevent current inclusion of taxable gains resulting from the sale of stock acquired in a demutualization.

Description: The different broad purposes served by the material change concept under federal tax law are outlined. More specific material change and similar issues that are pertinent to particular Code provisions and guidance from the IRS that has addressed those issues are also addressed. In the final part of this article, authors comment on whether any overarching principles can be gleaned that can assist insurers and policy owners in making decisions about whether particular changes can safely be made, and thoughts are offered with respect to future potential IRS guidance that would be helpful as taxpayers navigate these often uncertain waters.

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: The author discusses some common myths about Congress’ tax policy under the 1984 Act that he would like “to debunk.”

Description: This article discusses the important lessons for insurance companies that participate in drafting settlement agreements designed to achieve favorable tax treatment of the settlement payments.

Description: COLI products continue to be the focus of litigation by the IRS over the deductibility of policy loan interest. This COLI Update consists of two articles concerning COLI cases and their most recent court decisions. The first concerns a District Court’s ruling on insurable interest, and the second provides an analysis of the Sixth Circuit reversal of a trial court decision in a case involving economic substance.