Tax Equity And Financial Responsibility Acts Of 1982 And 1983 (TEFRA)
Legislation that redefined life insurance and raised taxes on life insurance companies. Among the provisions were new rules for some life insurance products, including a definition of flexible premium life insurance, and an increase in life insurance company taxes. Congress was concerned that a policyholder could take a substantial amount, say $1 million, and, after putting a few dollars toward a life insurance premium, put the remainder into a tax-free investment vehicle. One of two tests had to be satisfied for a policy to qualify as life insurance: the cash surrender value policy could not exceed a net single premium, and the death benefit had to represent a certain percentage of the cash value, which declined as the policy-holder got older. For example, at age 40, the death benefit must be 140% of cash value. The second rule closed a loophole on tax-free withdrawals from annuities. Prior to 1982 annuity holders could withdraw their initial premium tax free at any time. The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable. The older 1959 tax code devised a shorthand formula for determining taxes paid by insurers. The formula worked when interest rates were low, but as they soared, insurers found ways to reduce the increased tax bite. The 1982 code introduced a stopgap measure designed to raise taxes on life insurers by $3 billion.
Popular Insurance Terms
Process in life insurance by which an applicant who is uninsurable, or is a greater than average risk, seeks to obtain a policy from a company at a standard premium rate. Life insurance ...
Holding of property, or otherwise acting on behalf of another in trust. The fiduciary must exercise due care in safeguarding property left under personal care, custody, and control. ...
Benefits provided to and obtained by those insured, while still alive. They include the annuity, cash surrender value, disability income, policy loan, and waiver of premium (WP). ...
Conveying of assets from the donor to the beneficiary as a means of minimizing the legal tax obligation of the estate of the donor and avoiding probate. ...
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Professional designation earned after the successful completion of four national examinations given by the insurance institute of America (IIA). Covers such areas of expertise as principles ...
Derivative representing a legal obligation to carry out a transaction that has been prearranged according to a stipulated price and date in the future. There are numerous types of financial ...
Coverage if a lawyer's professional act (or omission) results in the client inflicting bodily injury or property damage to another party, or if personal injury and/or property damage is ...
Automatic adjustment applied to Social Security retirement payments when the consumer price index increases at a rate of at least 3%, the first quarter of one year to the first quarter of ...
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