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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
Interest of a beneficiary in the proceeds of a survivorship annuity. ...
Life insurance policy under which all premiums have already been paid, with no further premium payment due. ...
Policy clause that excludes coverage for loss of property if the cause of the loss cannot be identified. Mysterious disappearance is an exclusion in a standard inland marine insurance ...
Coverage for dispensers of alcoholic beverages against suits arising out of bodily injury and/or property damage caused by its customers to a third party. Establishments covered include ...
Person (the transferee to whom the property is transferred) who is at least two generations younger than the person (the transferor) who is transferring the property. This type of property ...
Exceptions and limitations of coverage; that is, the maximum amount of insurance coverage available under a policy. ...
Annuity that continues income payments as long as one annuitant, out of two or more annuitants, remains alive. For example, a married couple would receive an income for as long as both ...
Annual contributions to a pension plan that exceed or are smaller than the minimum required for future employee benefits currently being earned; and any supplemental liability for past ...
Method of determining whether or not coverage is available for a specific claim. If a claim arises out of an event during the period when a policy is in force, the insurance company is ...
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