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 is a companion to “They Go Bump in the Night: Life Insurance Policies and the Law of Material Change,” an article written by John T. Adney and Craig R. Springfield (May 2012 Taxing Times Supplement) that describes the various material change rules found in the Code, highlighting the complexities insurers face in navigating through these rules when a life insurance contract is materially changed. The Adney and Springfield article also addresses the difficulties in interpreting the tax law requirements under the various effective date rules contained in the Code sections affecting life insurance contracts.

Description: The guidance provided by the proposed regulations specifically related to insurance is the first detailed set of rules provided under FATCA and incorporates many of the topics identified as issue areas in the comment letters received by Treasury from domestic and foreign insurance companies and trade associations over the past two years. This article focuses on the provisions that apply specifically to insurance companies.

Description: Many life insurance companies that issue participating policies follow business practices that they argue allow them a deduction for tax purposes for policyholder dividends in the year prior to actual payment. This article discusses several recent developments related to policyholder dividend accruals, including Revenue Ruling 2011-29 and the New York Life and MassMutual cases, and highlights the four arguments commonly made by the IRS in challenging companies' claimed tax treatment of such dividends.

Description: The Internal Revenue Code includes certain rules that apply when a taxpayer has a change in method of accounting. A special rule applies when a life insurance company changes its basis of computing reserves. The article discusses two recent court cases, Bosamia v. Commissioner and Capital One Financial Corp. v. Commissioner, that address change-in-method-of-accounting issues. The article examines whether and how the courts' conclusions in these two cases might apply to changes in basis of computing reserves to correct errors.