Description: This article examines a recent Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM 201149021) in which the IRS concluded that residual value insurance was not insurance for tax purposes. The article questions the TAM's analysis and argues that the accounting regime applied produced a distortion in the insurer's income.

Description: The article focuses on the policyholder tax considerations specific to various types of contracts sold by life insurance companies. When evaluating merger and acquisition or reinsurance transactions, buyers need to be aware of the product tax compliance (PTC) requirements and evaluate any associated risks

Description: The article addresses the safe harbor guidance provided in Notice 2016-63 for 2017 CSO contracts satisfying the section 7702 reasonable mortality requirements

Description: Discussion of recent developments in the taxation of noncoordinated benefits such as fixed indemnity, hospital indemnity, and specified disease insurance policies. Developments include a recent Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum and proposed triagency rulemaking that would impact non coordinated benefits.

Description: The Chairperson of the Taxation Section shares the section council's plans and goals for 2017

Description: On April 24, 2015, Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published proposed regulations (REG-108214-15) that provide guidance regarding when a foreign insurance company’s income is excluded from the definition of passive income under Section 1297(b)(2)(B). The proposed regulations are directed at hedge funds that purport to establish a foreign reinsurance company in an effort to avoid treatment as a passive foreign investment company (PFIC), but could have unintended consequences for traditional insurance companies.

Description: This article discusses XXX reserve financing, one of the most common life insurance industry capital markets funding transactions.

Description: A discussion about foreign currency hedging, foreign insurance excise tax, taxation of credit default swaps and bad debts.

Description: Section 807d of the IRC provides that the deductible reserve for a life insurance contract is the greater of net surrender value or the Federally Prescribed Reserve FPR calculated under prescribed interest rate and mortality assumptions, but in no event can the tax reserve exceed “aggregate statutory reserves” i.e., the statutory cap. This article logically concludes that deficiency reserves are included in the calculation of the statutory cap.

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.