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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Type of policy with premiums that are fully paid up within a stated period. For example, a 20-payment life insurance policy has 20 annual premium payments, with no further premiums to be ...
Defined contribution pension plan in which employer contributions are set under a collective bargaining agreement. It usually covers the employees of a number of firms and is administered ...
Amount of loss that insured pays in a claim; includes the following types: Absolute dollar amount. Amount the insured must pay before the company will pay, up to the limits of the policy. ...
Form of stock ownership that permits the stockholder to select a beneficiary to receive the stock upon the death of the stockholder. The stockholder retains all rights of stock ownership ...
Endorsement to the special multiperil insurance (smp) policy that provides all risks damage coverage for personal property. There are special limitations on amounts of coverage for furs, ...
Decision in the absence of a plaintiff or defendant at the specified court time. ...
Employees participating in and covered under an employee benefit insurance plan. ...
Provision for known claims due but not paid, known claims not yet due, and provision for incurred but not reported (IBNR) claims. The critical problem facing a casualty insurance company is ...
Value of loss resulting from loss of use of property. For example, a fire damages the structure of business premises and the business loses customer income until it can reopen. The loss in ...
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