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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Organization following the format of Lloyd's of London. ...
worth of each accumulation unit at the end of each valuation period for a variable annuity. This value is similar to that of the net asset value for a mutual fund. ...
Figure used in calculating a worker's primary insurance amount (PIA) to determine Social Security benefits in the following manner: calculate the number of years between the worker's ...
Report developed by or supplied by a credit agency to an insurer dealing with the financial standing and character of an insurance applicant. These factors are carefully weighted by the ...
Investment risk associated with the possibility that there is a rise in the interest rates after a fixed income security has been purchased resulting in a decline in that security's price. ...
Maximum limit of liability of an insurance company for a particular claim or kind of loss that is applicable in general to all such claims or losses. This maximum limit of liability is ...
clause found in health insurance contracts that requires the insured to pay a specified percentage of the covered health care expenses. ...
Minimum amount of coverage for which a company will write a liability insurance policy. ...
Same as term Floater: coverage for property which moves from location to location either on a scheduled or unscheduled basis. If the floater covers scheduled property, coverage is listed ...
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