Description: Update on industry action on legislative and tax regulatory items affecting the life insurance industry.

Description: On Nov. 2, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Technical Advice Memorandum 201844009 (the TAM).

Description: The traditional defined-benefit (DB) plan is a type of plan structured to provide the greatest degree of retirement income security, designed to pay out a guaranteed retirement income for the life of the retiree (and, when applicable, a beneficiary). However, over the last several decades, the number of private-sector employees covered under these traditional plans has decreased dramatically and been replaced by defined contribution (DC) plans. In contrast, public-sector retirement plans, which are exempt from ERISA, have seen a much smaller decline in DB plans. There are many differences in the private and public sector that likely contributed to this phenomenon, but ERISA and the many amendments to it has been a major factor.

Description: Un-MECing a MEC by Arthur C. Schneider & Cherri R. Divin from The Financial Reporter, October 1999, Issue No. 40.

Description: Federal Tax Issues Under the 2001 CSO Mortality Tables

Description: This article illustrates how today’s retirement system tools have potential to achieve financially secure retirement and lists options for system improvement.

Description: Over the past few years, the Internal Revenue Service has issued two private letter rulings waiving the failure of certain fixed-premium universal life insurance FPUL contracts to satisfy the guideline premium test GPT under section 7702 of the Internal Revenue Code [see PLR 200328027 Apr. 10, 2003 and PLR 200230037 Apr. 30, 2002].

Description: Congress has acted in recent years to remove outdated provisions governing the federal income taxation of life insurance companies from the Internal Revenue Code. In particular, section 809 and section 815 were repealed and suspended, respectively, in 2004. This article chronicles the demise of these provisions and explains why Congress was right in removing them from the Code.

Description: This is an article about final tax regulations issued in April which provide helpful guidance on the acquisition of insurance companies pursuant to an election under section 338 of the Internal Revenue Code and assumption reinsurance of blocks of insurance when accompanied by the acquisition of other business assets.

Description: This article summarizes the government guidance for protected cells in the insurance context and the ABA Recommendation, and comments on the Notice and ABA Recommendation in light of traditional notions of equity ownership for federal corporate income tax purposes.