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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Wording in life insurance policies to determine the order of deaths when the insured and the beneficiary die in the same accident. For example, if the insured is deemed to have died first, ...
Rate of return computed by dividing the current annual dividend (if a stock) or annual coupon amount (if a bond) by the amount paid for that financial instrument. ...
Professional designation earned after the successful completion of six national examinations given by the insurance institute of America (IIA). Covers such areas of expertise as premium ...
Payment made by a party causing harm to the party incurring that harm. ...
In property insurance contracts, provision that states that the violation of one or more contract condition^) at a particular location that is insured will not void coverage at other ...
Insurance company that has the authority to assess or charge its policyholders for losses that the company is incurring. This company is sometimes called stipulated premium company or ...
Direct relationship between the use to which a building is put and the likelihood that it will catch on fire. Occupancy is one of the most important factors in setting fire insurance rates. ...
Same as term Deviated Rate: rates used by a property and casualty insurance company that are different from that suggested by a rating bureau. An insurance company may use deviated rates ...
Additional amount of life insurance above that provided by the employee benefit plan (standard group life plan) that may be chosen by the employee. A limit is usually placed on this maximum ...
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