Description: This is an article about how to place value on an annuity benefit.

Description: In September 2009, the Internal Revenue Service IRS released a private letter ruling PLR 200939018 June 18, 2009 addressing a contract in which the right to receive annuity payments and otherwise access a contract’s cash value is contingent upon the annuitant living to a specified age. The ruling holds that the contract is an annuity contract for purposes of section 72 of the Code. This article reviews the specifics of the ruling.

Description: A discussion of the three private letter rulings addressing the tax treatment of group insurance contingent annuity contracts providing guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits linked to an investment account released by the Internal Revenue Service.

Description: The IRS believes that any segregated asset account comprised of a pool of individual securities will run afoul of the investor control doctrine. This article articulates that such a conclusion would be deeply flawed based on the administrative, congressional, and judicial precedents involving the investor control doctrine.

Description: A discussion of the PLR that addresses a Wellness Rider that an affiliated group of life insurance companies proposed to offer only on a prospective basis with newly issued life insurance contracts.

Description: This article discusses a new procedure for correcting inadvertent failures to satisfy the diversification requirements applicable to variable annuity and life insurance contracts under section 817h of the Internal Revenue Code.