Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax: Implications For Corporate-owned Life Insurance

Definition of "Corporate alternative minimum tax: implications for corporate-owned life insurance"

INSURANCE tax that exhibits direct impact on the book income preference. Beginning with the year 1990, the book income preference became equal to 75% of the excess of current adjusted earnings of the alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI). Book income preferences are affected by corporate-owned life insurance in the following situations:

  1. If the insured dies, the excess of the life insurance policy's DEATH BENEFIT over the CASH SURRENDER VALUE becomes book income to the corporation.
  2. If the insurance policy's annual premium exceeds the increase in the cash surrender value for a particular year, the result is a decline in the book income and thus a decline in the corporation's exposure to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
  3. Conversely, if the insurance policy's cash surrender value exceeds the increase in the annual premium for a particular year, the result is an increase in the book income and thus an increase in the corporation's exposure to the alternative minimum tax.

Generally, if the corporation in any given year has taxable income, corporate-owned life insurance results in an alternative minimum tax liability if a significant death benefit is paid to the corporation upon the death of the insured. The result is that the alternative minimum tax will cause a reduction in the net death benefit from the life insurance policy paid to the corporation.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Legal status giving an insurance company all rights to an insured's property. The abandonment clause is usually found in marine insurance and not in other property insurance policies such ...

Investment risk associated with the psychology of the market in that emotions affect the price of a company's stock that, in most instances, has nothing to do with the current or potential ...

Same as term Maximum Foreseeable Loss: worst case scenario under which an estimate is made of the maximum dollar amount that can be lost if a catastrophe occurs such as a hurricane or ...

Same as term Fortuitous Loss: loss occurring by accident or chance, not by anyone's intention. Insurance policies provide coverage against losses that occur only on a chance basis, where ...

Rating method for commercial fire insurance according to a predetermined schedule. Published by A. F. Dean in 1902, this method was the first comprehensive qualitative analysis procedure to ...

Coverage for an advertiser's negligent acts and/or omissions in advertising (both oral and written) that may result in a civil suit for libel, slander, defamation of character, or copyright ...

Coverage when business records are destroyed by an insured peril and the business cannot collect money owed. The policy covers these uncollectible sums plus the expense of record ...

Fronted program by the insured acquires a licensed insurance company to issue insurance policies. ...

Percentage of total assets set aside by an insurance company to provide for unexpected losses. In general, a minimum of a 5% surplus ratio (5 cents in reserve for each $1 of assets) is ...

Popular Insurance Questions