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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Found under the "Exceptions and Exclusions Section for All Medical Benefits" in many health insurance policies that exclude: complications arising from elective, nontherapeutic voluntary ...
Agreement by the insurance company to keep the universal life insurance policy in force, even if the cash value becomes zero or less than zero, provided that a specified minimum ...
Amount of uncertainty in a given situation. Probability that actual experience will be different from what is expected. ...
Employee of a state insurance department who audits statements of insurance companies to determine their continued solvency. ...
Compensation in which an insurance agent's fee for the sale of a policy is the same year after year. Most life insurance companies pay a high first year commission and lower commissions in ...
Coverage in which the face amount of a policy remains uniform, neither increasing nor decreasing for as long as the policy is in force. ...
Annual premium expressed on a proportionate basis such as monthly, quarterly, or semiannually. ...
Chart showing rate of death at each age in terms of number of deaths per thousand. ...
Index that reflects changes in industrial output by manufacturers, mines, electric utilities, and natural gas utilities. This is a monthly index published by the Federal Reserve. ...
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