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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Agreement by the insured that, simply because the insurer investigates and determines a value for the claim, the insurer does not admit liability for the claim. ...
Reserve at the beginning of the policy year that is equal to the terminal reserve for the preceding year plus the net level premium for the current year. ...
Phrase used to describe a method of annuity payout that guarantees a specified number of years, regardless of whether an annuitant remains alive. ...
Plan for excess layer (s) of insurance coverage over the primary coverage, for example, if a corporation buys $8 million as excess above a $2 million self insurance retention level. Excess ...
Coverage during the transfer of securities and monies, precious metals, and other specified types of valuables by armored guard services. Policies are specifically designed to fit an ...
Financial statement, issued by the insurance company on a monthly basis to its agents, showing for each agent his or her commissions earned, premiums written, policy cancellations, and any ...
Homeowners policy to cover the owner of a townhouse. ...
Base upon which a mortality table is built by beginning with a randomly selected group of people who are alive at the earliest age for which statistics are available on the number of people ...
Property coverage on a dealer's interest in equipment while it is being installed. Labor and material are protected against such perils as fire, lightning, and windstorm. For example, if an ...
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