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: Discusses a variety of regulatory issues relative to pension plans, the professional responsibilities of pension consultants, and criteria which should be applied for determining assumptions, actuarial cost method and modifications in evaluating disability benefits. Also discusses determination of qualified actuary to represent client before the IRS.

Description: The Phase 3 tax is the description given to the federal income tax imputable to amounts withdrawn from the Policyholders Surplus Account maintained under the federal income tax law. This article discusses certain facets of the federal income Phase 3 tax as it relates to these withdrawals. Still significant for a large health insurer that has been in existence since before 1984 should health care become nationalized.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to set forth a mathematical technique which in the author's experience has proved useful in testing the tax implications of various management actions.

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.