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

Coverage for an individual with a residual disability. Benefits are usually payable for the unused portion of the total disability benefit period up to age 65. If an individual is at least ...

Work-related accident. Occupational accidents that injure employees are the responsibility of the employer and are covered by workers compensation insurance. In recent years, the term ...

Coverage following the same structure as group term, the significant difference being that premiums go toward the purchase of permanent insurance instead of term insurance. The employee has ...

State in which an insurance company has its principal legal residence; where an individual resides in a fixed permanent home. ...

Mechanism used by a fidelity and surety insurance company to spread its liability through reinsurance by issuing a surplus treaty as a first layer of coverage, thereby enabling a cedent to ...

Term for operating an automobile while under the influence of alcoholic beverages so as to be unable to drive safely. An insurance company can suspend auto coverage under a personal ...

Standard designed to reduce occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens (microorganisms in human blood that can cause diseases in humans, such as HIV and hepatitis B). The standard ...

Same as term Fronting: procedure under which the CEDING COMPANY (the primary or fronting company) cedes the risk it has underwritten to its reinsurer with the ceding company retaining none ...

Coverage in which the face amount of a life insurance policy declines by a stipulated amount over a period of time. For example, the initial face amount of a $100,000 decreasing term policy ...

Popular Insurance Questions