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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Inquiry conducted by a committee of the legislature of the State of New York in 1905 that looked at abuses of life insurance companies operating in the state. This study led to stricter ...
Guarantee by a reinsurance company that payment for losses incurred by a third party will be made even though that third party has no contractual arrangement with the reinsurance company. ...
Actuarial procedure used to determine the cost of protection of a cash value life insurance policy on an annual basis. This cost of protection is developed by the following steps: Cash ...
Cooperative organization among insurers that rates and prepares new policy forms according to guidelines and regulations of the state insurance department. Loss experience, collected ...
Same as term Master policy: single contract coverage on a group basis issued to an employer. Group members receive certificates as evidence of membership summarizing benefits provided. ...
Coverage for property damage caused by untimely discharge from an automatic sprinkler system. This coverage, available through an endorsement to the Standard Fire Policy, typically excludes ...
Type of proportional reinsurance under which the ceding company (primary insurer) cedes a portion of the face amount of the life insurance policy it has underwritten to its reinsurer. The ...
Workers' premiums in a contributory employee benefit plan. ...
Coverage protecting future profits to be earned from a manufacturer's inventory. A manufacturer may lose all or part of an inventory of finished goods due to a peril such as fire and still ...
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