Description: Last March, Congress passed and the President signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act followed by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, which amended the former collectively, the “Act”. The article provides a brief background on the passage of the Act generally and the creation of the new Investment Income Tax in particular compares the existing provisions of the HI tax with the newly enacted provisions, and it then analyzes the import of the Investment Income Tax for annuities and, possibly, life insurance contracts. The article concludes with thoughts on the potential effect of the new tax on the annuity marketplace.