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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Publication stipulating underwriting rules applicable for a given line of insurance, classifications of exposures within that line of insurance, and premium rates per classification. For ...
Insurance policy underwritten and issued by a syndicate listing each risk insured by each syndicate member. ...
Measure showing how much life insurance an agent has lost through replacement. It is expressed as a percentage of number of policies, face amount, or premium volume. ...
Person insured under a blue CROSS hospitalization or blue shield medical health insurance plan. ...
Coverage on jewelry and precious stones on an all risks basis at any location subject to exclusions of wear and tear, war, and nuclear disaster. Each item must be specifically listed in the ...
Federal statute relating to drug abuse policies that requires all employers with federal contracts at least equal to $25,000 to certify, as a condition of receiving a federal contract, that ...
Hospital charges in addition to room and board. Miscellaneous expenses are covered under a basic hospital plan, with the limits of coverage expressed either as a multiple of the daily ...
Signed receipt by policyowner acknowledging that policyowner is in possession of the policy. ...
Type of disability income insurance that provides income payments to the wage earner when income is interrupted or terminated because of illness, sickness, or accident and can continue to ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.