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 The 1982 code decreed that any money withdrawn from an annuity would be considered income first and would therefore be taxable.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
An exception to section 101 (a) (1) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE tax-exempt Status Of the DEATH BENEFIT in a life insurance policy where the transfer of the interest in the policy by the ...
Calculation of insurance premiums based on an age less than the current age of the insured. ...
Types of contracts that insure building contractors for damage to property under construction. The completed value form requires a 100% coinsurance because insurance carried must equal the ...
Automobile insurance plan, debated for a number of years, that is financed through a surcharge of a given number of cents per gallon (estimates run from 30 to 40 cents) to be paid by the ...
Type of business interruption insurance policy that provides a specific daily dollar amount benefit to the business owner for each day the business is unable to resume normal business ...
Denial of coverage for various perils (such as war, flood); hazards (storing dynamite in the home, thereby increasing the chance of loss); property (such as pets); and locations. These are ...
System whereby the re insurer shares losses in the same proportion as it shares premium and policy amounts. Proportional reinsurance may be divided into the two basic forms: automatic ...
Method of funding a pension plan under which a single premium payment is made to fund a single unit of benefit for one year of recognized service with the employer. For example, if the ...
Coverage on more than one person that pays a benefit after all of the insureds die. This type of joint life policy is significantly cheaper than a regular policy. Survivorship life ...
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