Insurance companies, agents, financial planners, and others have pushed abusive 419 and 412i plans for years

Section 79 Scams and Captive Insurance History

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     By Lance Wallach, CLU, CHFC 

If you do not properly file Form 8886, there is no Statute of Limitations. That means the IRS can come back and fine you many years later. Anyone that wants to risk an IRS audit by utilizing a captive insurance or Section 79 scam should, at the very least, engage a competent professional to file 8886 forms. By filing protectively and properly, the Statute of Limitations starts running and you avoid the very large IRS penalties under 6707A. But as I have previously stated, I only know two people who I would trust to undertake the preparation of the forms, especially if the forms are not being filed timely.

Taxlibrary

Taxlibrary

WHAT IS A SECTION 79 PLAN?

Section 79 plans are commonly known for the $50,000 free term life insurance they can provide for employees. Less commonly known is that Section 79 plans can also provide permanent life insurance. These plans are employee benefit plans established under Section 79 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 79 plans are non-qualified plans but they are tax-deductible plans for the adopting employer.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A SECTION 79 PLAN?

Section 79 plans provide life insurance benefits for employees paid for by the employer. The life premiums paid are 100% tax-deductible to the business. The "economic benefit" of the life insurance is reportable as taxable income for the insured employee. Only life insurance in excess of $50,000 is reportable. The "economic benefit" is determined using the rates under Table I ( Reg. §1.79-3(d)(2)). When permanent insurance is used the reportable economic benefit can be as little as 60% of the actual premium paid and deducted. This can provide a tax-advantaged way to purchase personal life insurance.

CAN ANY BUSINESS ADOPT A SECTION 79 PLAN?

Section 79 plans are only for employees. Self-employed individuals, partners and owners of S corporations are not employees. For an owner to participate the sponsoring employer must be a C Corporation.

MUST EVERY EMPLOYEE BE INCLUDED IN THE PLAN?

Non-discrimination rules do apply. 70% of all full time employees must benefit, or 85% of participants must be non-key employees. All participants must be offered the same type and amount of benefits. Special rules apply for companies with less than ten employees.

WHAT OPTIONS ARE TYPICALLY OFFERED IN A SECTION 79 PLAN THAT INCLUDES PERMANENT INSURANCE?

Typically, employees are offered three options. (1) Permanent life insurance with a death benefit that is a multiple of salary, (2) term insurance with a death benefit that is a multiple of salary, and (3) $50,000 group term insurance. The multiple of salary offered is usually defined by how much insurance the business owner wants for him or herself. Everyone will be offered the same multiple of salary. Option 1, permanent insurance, will produce the largest reportable economic benefit added to the taxable income of the employee, Option 2 will provide a significantly lower reportable economic benefit added to the taxable income of the employee, and Option 3 will result in no economic benefit added to the employee's taxable income.

These plans are sold so insurance agents can make commissions.

IRS Attacks Business Owners in 419, 412, Section 79 and...

Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, Inc.

Winter 2010

IRS Attacks Business Owners in 419, 412, Section 79 and Captive Insurance Plans Under Section 6707A

By Lance Wallach

Taxpayers who previously adopted 419, 412i, captive insurance or Section 79 plans are in big trouble.

In recent years, the IRS has identified many of these arrangements as abusive devices to funnel tax deductible dollars to shareholders and classified these arrangements as listed transactions." These plans were sold by insurance agents, financial planners, accountants and attorneys seeking large life insurance commissions. In general, taxpayers who engage in a “listed transaction” must report such transaction to the IRS on Form 8886 every year that they “participate” in the transaction, and you do not necessarily have to make a contribution or claim a tax deduction to participate. Section 6707A of the Code imposes severe penalties for failure to file Form 8886 with respect to a listed transaction. But you are also in trouble if you file incorrectly. I have received numerous phone calls from business owners who filed and still got fined. Not only do you have to file Form 8886, but it also has to be prepared correctly. I only know of two people in the U.S. who have filed these forms properly for clients. They tell me that was after hundreds of hours of research and over 50 phones calls to various IRS personnel. The filing instructions for Form 8886 presume a timely filling. Most people file late and follow the directions for currently preparing the forms. Then the IRS fines the business owner. The tax court does not have jurisdiction to abate or lower such penalties imposed by the IRS.

"Many taxpayers who are no longer taking current tax deductions for these plans continue to enjoy the benefit of previous tax deductions by continuing the deferral of income from contributions and deductions taken in prior years."

Many business owners adopted 412i, 419, captive insurance and Section 79 plans based upon representations provided by insurance professionals that the plans were legitimate plans and were not informed that they were engaging in a listed transaction. Upon audit, these taxpayers were shocked when the IRS asserted penalties under Section 6707A of the Code in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Numerous complaints from these taxpayers caused Congress to impose a moratorium on assessment of Section 6707A penalties.

The moratorium on IRS fines expired on June 1, 2010. The IRS immediately started sending out notices proposing the imposition of Section 6707A penalties along with requests for lengthy extensions of the Statute of Limitations for the purpose of assessing tax. Many of these taxpayers stopped taking deductions for contributions to these plans years ago, and are confused and upset by the IRS’s inquiry, especially when the taxpayer had previously reached a monetary settlement with the IRS regarding its deductions. Logic and common sense dictate that a penalty should not apply if the taxpayer no longer benefits from the arrangement. Treas. Reg. Sec. 1.6011-4(c)(3)(i) provides that a taxpayer has participated in a listed transaction if the taxpayer’s tax return reflects tax consequences or a tax strategy described in the published guidance identifying the transaction as a listed transaction or a transaction that is the same or substantially similar to a listed transaction.

Clearly, the primary benefit in the participation of these plans is the large tax deduction generated by such participation. Many taxpayers who are no longer taking current tax deductions for these plans continue to enjoy the benefit of previous tax deductions by continuing the deferral of income from contributions and deductions taken in prior years. While the regulations do not expand on what constitutes “reflecting the tax consequences of the strategy,” it could be argued that continued benefit from a tax deferral for a previous tax deduction is within the contemplation of a “tax consequence” of the plan strategy. Also, many taxpayers who no longer make contributions or claim tax deductions continue to pay administrative fees. Sometimes, money is taken from the plan to pay premiums to keep life insurance policies in force. In these ways, it could be argued that these taxpayers are still “contributing,” and thus still must file Form 8886.

It is clear that the extent to which a taxpayer benefits from the transaction depends on the purpose of a particular transaction as described in the published guidance that caused such transaction to be a listed transaction. Revenue Ruling 2004-20, which classifies 419(e) transactions, appears to be concerned with the employer’s contribution/deduction amount rather than the continued deferral of the income in previous years. Another important issue is that the IRS has called CPAs material advisors if they signed tax returns containing the plan, and got paid a certain amount of money for tax advice on the plan. The fine is $100,000 for the CPA, or $200,000 if the CPA is incorporated. To avoid the fine, the CPA has to properly file Form 8918.

Lance Wallach, National Society of Accountants Speaker of the Year and member of the AICPA faculty of teaching professionals, Wallach is a frequent speaker on retirement plans, financial and estate planning, and abusive tax shelters. He is also a featured writer and has been interviewed on television and financial talk shows including NBC, National Pubic Radio’s All Things Considered and others. Lance authored Protecting Clients from Fraud, Incompetence and Scams published by John Wiley and Sons, Bisk Education’s CPA’s Guide to Life Insurance and Federal Estate and Gift Taxation, as well as AICPA best-selling books including Avoiding Circular 230 Malpractice Traps and Common Abusive Small Business Hot Spots.