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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
The term pro rata comes from Latin and translates to in proportion, proportionally, the proportion of, proportionately determined, or according to a specific rate. It is often used in legal ...
System in which shareholders are not issued physical stock certificates; instead, they are sent a statement that shows the number of shares registered in the shareholder's name on the ...
Amount of life insurance required to purchase burial, probate, medical, and other costs associated with death. ...
a contract in life insurance that includes elements of whole life and term insurance. in pensions, a combined life insurance policy and a side (auxiliary) fund to enhance the amount of a ...
Method of valuing a reserve under which a life insurance policy, from an actual point of view, combines one-year term insurance and a one-year deferred plan. Here the net premium is ...
Insurance issued to a creditor (lender) to cover the life of a debtor (borrower) for an outstanding loan. If the debtor dies prior to repayment of the debt, the policy will pay off the ...
U.S. government group term life insurance for male and female members of the federal uniformed forces on active duty, underwritten by private insurance companies. Premiums reflect peacetime ...
Events that do not have any influence on the occurrence or nonoccurrence of another event; for example, a plane crashing in Shreveport should have no influence on a plane crashing in Dallas. ...
Arrangement whereby the insured pays the insurance company a relatively small monthly premium payment. In exchange for this premium payment, the insurance company processes and pays claims ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.