Life Insurance: Taxation and Benefits

Insurance in “all forms” are considered to be an effective solutions for many financial exigencies and requirements for many individuals who are in need of funding and monetary assistance. And one of the most common and important form of insurance that most people enroll into is Life Insurance, which indicates the existence of a pre-need contact between the client and their insurance company.

Benefits in case of the term Life Insurance are commonly derived by the nominees & legal heirs or ‘successor-in-interest’ of the insured individuals in such case of his/her untimely death. In short, the benefits that the legal heirs or the successor-in-interest would get from the insured is obviously an ‘extra income’ for them, thus, the life insurance taxable will visibly come onto the forefront. The following are some of the useful information that you need to know on how to deal with life insurance taxable and some of the necessary coverage when or how to deal with certain tax obligation:

Dealing with the Claim Amount:

Common practices in dealing with claims for life insurance are as follows:

  • Beneficiaries are not held responsible for the tax evasion due to ‘non-declaration’ of the money he/she received from the life insurance company.
  • Assured amount will be released according to the full favor of beneficiaries that’s free from the tax obligation.
  • Therefore there is NO tax obligation that are associated with the life insurance claim amount that is received by the beneficiaries.

Cases Where the Insurance Coverage is Considered Taxable

It not all the time or all cases that releases of money claim in terms of life insurance should be free from any tax obligation. There are still some cases where tax might be levied on the ‘amount’ of the insurance coverage releases.

  • In such cases where the amount is not immediately released to the beneficiaries in accordance to the terms & condition in the policy, thus, there should be an accumulated interest on such amount. And wherein the interest amount is taxable.
  • If cases where the capital isn’t chargeable with taxes, but the interest will not exempt from the taxation since it is considered to be as ‘regular income’ of the beneficiary.
  • Also, as an answer to the question if life insurance is taxable, one must understand that the policy that’s classifies as ‘incidents’ wherein the buyer has all the control over his/her policy, can change recipients, can transfer it or get some revenue from it after a specified period, and the insurance may be ‘taxed’.

3-Years Rule

It is very important for the beneficiaries to understand the process of the “3-year rule” that is implemented by the Internal Revenue Service or IRS. Unless the incident were removed and/or the insurer did not apply for Irrevocable Insurance Trust, the, this rule may apply. If the holder of the insurance coverage dies within 3 years after getting registered under the life insurance plan, he/she will still be the owner of the policies.

Any individuals, buying life insurance in United States must therefore try to learn the legal provision in terms of their insurances, and know the following information so as to avoid getting any unpleasant surprises for their beneficiaries at the end.