Description: Almost 65 years ago, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Helvering v. Le Gierse, addressing when an arrangement should be recognized as involving “insurance” for federal income tax purposes. According to the Court, an “insurance risk” must be present, and for an insurance risk to exist, there must be “risk-shifting and risk distribution.”

Description: This article discusses the temporary waiver and how it provides only limited relief from the section 401a9 minimum distribution requirements.

Description: This editorial highlights the hot topics happening in the tax industry today.

Description: A discussion of spousal provisions that are governed by federal income tax law, specifically the difference between some state laws and the Defense of Marriage Act DOMA.

Description: This article begins with an overview of how the tax treatment of partial exchanges has evolved over the last decade or so, including the concerns that led the Service to resist giving taxpayers carte blanche on such transactions.The new guidance shortens from 12 to six months the window following a partial exchange in which the transaction could be called into question, and simplifies the regime by de-linking it from the exceptions to the section 72q penalty tax.4 Finally, the guidance provides coordination with recent partial annuitization legislation and answers to other open issues. This article then summarizes Rev. Proc. 2011-38 and elaborates on why the features outlined above are important and helpful improvements over prior guidance.

Description: At the beginning of this year, Representative Dave Camp (R-MI) retired from the House of Representatives after 12 terms, the last two terms serving as Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means. Chairman Camp has played a central role in the national conversation on tax reform, primarily through a series of discussion drafts addressing international tax reform, financial products tax reform, small business tax reform and, most recently, a comprehensive tax reform discussion draft that we explored in a special edition of TAXING TIMES last fall. Kristin Norberg, TAXING TIMES editor, recently sat down with Chairman Camp to talk about his career in the House, the development of the Tax Reform Act of 2014, and some of its potential impacts on the insurance industry.

Description: This article describes the transfer pricing rules applicable to life reinsurance transactions generally, and then outlines a methodology for testing life reinsurance transactions to demonstrate compliance with transfer pricing standards applied by tax authorities.