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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Means of projecting the costs of pension plans on a level basis over a specified future period of time. The actuarial value of each employee's future benefits to be paid at retirement is ...
Provision in ocean marine cargo policies to limit an insurance company's liability for partial losses; the company has liability only for losses that exceed a stipulated percentage of the ...
Coverage for furs owned by a furrier, or a customer's furs in the care, custody, and control of the furrier. Coverage is on an all risks basis except those specifically excluded: wear and ...
Actual morbidity experience of an insured group as compared to the expected morbidity for that group. ...
Charitable planning strategy in which a donor sells an asset to the charity for an amount less than its fair market value. Internal Revenue Service regulations require that the tax basis ...
Arrangement under which employees may choose their own employee benefit structure. For example, one employee may wish to emphasize health care and thus would select a more comprehensive ...
Insurance that covers an indirect loss stemming from a direct loss by a covered peril to income-producing property. A building destroyed by fire represents a direct loss. Lost income ...
Health plan that pays a flat fee for each patient it covers. ...
Process of distributing the costs associated with losses and risks over a number of insureds. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.