The life insurance fiscal cliff: The end of a tax-preferred product class?
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
The life insurance fiscal cliff
With the fiscal cliff looming, no tax preferences are immune from congressional scrutiny. Various proposals to impose taxes on life insurance proceeds and policies are circulating, and while it is unlikely all of the proposals will become law, it is entirely possible life insurance will not escape the fiscal cliff discussions unscathed.
For example, while taxing the interest that accrues within a policy would not completely eliminate its tax-preferred status, it would provide substantial revenue. Today, when a life insurance policy earns interest, that interest typically increases the cash value of the policy tax-free, accumulating to provide a fund from which the policyholder can borrow tax-free.
Many business owners and high net-worth clients purchase life insurance specifically because it provides a tax-free investment that accumulates during many years and can be withdrawn without worrying about capital gains or the new investment income taxes at some point in the future.
In the case of corporate-owned life insurance, corporations often borrow to purchase or pay the premiums on a life insurance policy. An exception to the general rule allows a corporation to deduct the interest paid on any related debts if the policy covers the life of an officer, director, or employee of the corporation — essentially providing a double tax motivation for corporations to purchase life insurance. However, eliminating this exception could generate an estimated $7.3 billion in tax revenue over ten years.
Another proposal would impose reporting requirements on any transfer of a life insurance policy that provides a death benefit of at least $500,000. Usually, when a policyholder sells his life insurance policy, he must pay taxes on the difference between the value of the insurance proceeds collected and the amount that the investor paid for the policy. The goal of the reporting requirements is to aid in the elimination of transactions structured to avoid the tax that must be paid on any gain realized when a policy is transferred.
Conclusion
Essentially, clients should be prepared for the reality that in today’s world, no tax preferences are certain. Even though it is likely that the primary tax preferences afforded life insurance policies will not be eliminated any time soon, certain benefits could fall victim to the year-end compromise discussions. It is therefore important to remind clients that substantial non-tax reasons exist for purchasing life insurance — of course, the primary purpose is to provide liquidity to the policy beneficiaries upon the insured’s death — but the steady returns typical of a life insurance contract can also provide a conservative investment option for clients
By Robert Bloink, William H. Byrnes for National Underwriter Advanced Markets, a LifeHealthPro partner. Robert Bloink is a professor of tax for the Graduate Program of International Tax and Financial Services, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Prof. William H. Byrnes, Esq., LL.M., CWM, Fellow, is the leader of Summit Business Media’s Financial Advisory Publications, having been appointed July 1, 2010
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