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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Retirement payments to be credited for future years of service with an employer. ...
Coverage by at least two insurance policies providing the same coverage for the same risk. ...
Insurance salesperson who is licensed to place coverage with an insurance company that is not licensed to do business in the state of domicile of the broker. The excess line coverage must ...
Exception in general liability policies for all expenses associated with product recall. In recent years, there have been increasing instances of federal recalls. In addition, there have ...
Settlement of a dispute that arises when two or more insurers cover a single loss, and there is a question concerning the amount each is responsible to pay. The companies are bound by the ...
Basic employee benefit under which an employer buys a master policy and issues certificates to employees denoting participation in the plan. Group life is also available through unions and ...
Model state law providing guidelines by regulators for valuation of securities on the books of insurance companies. The act has two sections: one for valuation of fixed rate bonds and debt ...
Coverage when residential property does not qualify according to the minimum requirements of a homeowner's policy, or because of a requirement for the insured to select several different ...
Federal legislation passed in 1988 (repealed November 23, 1989) that significantly increased the benefit amounts provided under medicare, both Part A and Part B, in the following manner: ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.