Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax: Implications For Corporate-owned Life Insurance

Definition of "Corporate alternative minimum tax: implications for corporate-owned life insurance"

INSURANCE tax that exhibits direct impact on the book income preference. Beginning with the year 1990, the book income preference became equal to 75% of the excess of current adjusted earnings of the alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI). Book income preferences are affected by corporate-owned life insurance in the following situations:

  1. If the insured dies, the excess of the life insurance policy's DEATH BENEFIT over the CASH SURRENDER VALUE becomes book income to the corporation.
  2. If the insurance policy's annual premium exceeds the increase in the cash surrender value for a particular year, the result is a decline in the book income and thus a decline in the corporation's exposure to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
  3. Conversely, if the insurance policy's cash surrender value exceeds the increase in the annual premium for a particular year, the result is an increase in the book income and thus an increase in the corporation's exposure to the alternative minimum tax.

Generally, if the corporation in any given year has taxable income, corporate-owned life insurance results in an alternative minimum tax liability if a significant death benefit is paid to the corporation upon the death of the insured. The result is that the alternative minimum tax will cause a reduction in the net death benefit from the life insurance policy paid to the corporation.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

That which adjoins. Most property insurance policies such as the homeowners insurance policy provide structural coverage on an adjacent building on the same basis as the primary building. ...

Procedure to minimize the adverse effect of a possible financial loss by (1) identifying potential sources of loss; (2) measuring the financial consequences of a loss occurring; and (3) ...

One that combines the two forms of ownership, stock and mutual. A stock insurance company is owned by stockholders, whereas a mutual insurance company is owned by its policyholders. A mixed ...

Effective January 4, 1994, the backup withholding rate on dividends, interest, and gross proceeds distributions increased from 20% to 31%. Backup withholding applies in the following ...

Right of a policyholder in life insurance with cash value to elect a smaller, fully paid-up policy, without any further premiums to pay. The amount of the paid-up policy is determined by ...

Policy not designed to pay the policyowner a dividend. ...

Coverage provided by the pension benefit guaranty corporation (pbgc) that guarantees participants a certain level of pension benefits even if the plan terminates without assets. The PBGC ...

Policy that is the opposite of the traditional split dollar life insurance policy in that: the employee is the policyowner and as such can exercise all ownership rights inherit to that ...

Coverage in which premiums are collected monthly on an ordinary life insurance policy. ...

Popular Insurance Questions