Micro-Captive Insurance Schemes

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The Internal Revenue Service announced today a second time-limited settlement initiative for certain taxpayers under audit who participated in abusive micro-captive insurance transactions.

In the coming days, the IRS will begin sending settlement offers with terms that are stricter than the IRS’s first time-limited initiative started last year. This announcement occurs after the IRS recently deployed its 12 newly formed micro-captive examination teams to substantially increase the examinations of abusive micro-captive insurance transactions.

The IRS has decided to offer to resolve certain cases by requiring substantial concession of the income tax benefits claimed by the taxpayer together with penalties that can be partly mitigated if the taxpayer can demonstrate good faith, reasonable reliance on an independent, competent tax advisor and if the taxpayer can demonstrate it did not participate in any other reportable transactions.

Written by IRS | Posted in IRS Notice • Micro-Captive Insurance Schemes

With the Oct. 15 deadline quickly approaching, the Internal Revenue Service encouraged taxpayers to consult an independent tax advisor if they participated in a micro-captive insurance transaction.

The IRS encourages any taxpayer who has continued to engage in an abusive micro-captive insurance transaction to not anticipate being able to settle its transaction with the IRS or Chief Counsel on terms more favorable than previously announced settlement offers and that any potential future settlement initiative that the IRS may consider will require additional concessions by the taxpayer.

With this in mind, the IRS encourages taxpayers to consult an independent tax advisor if they participated in a micro-captive insurance transaction. These taxpayers should seriously consider exiting the transaction and not reporting deductions associated with abusive micro-captive insurance transactions, like many other taxpayers did who were contacted by the IRS in March and July 2020. For those taxpayers that do not exit the transaction and continue taking such deductions, the IRS will disallow tax benefits from transactions that are determined to be abusive and may also require domestic captives to include premium payments in income and assert a withholding liability for foreign captives. The IRS will also assert penalties, as appropriate, including the strict liability penalty that applies to transactions that lack economic substance. The IRS Office of Chief Counsel is well prepared to defend these positions in Tax Court.

Written by IRS | Posted in IRS Notice • Micro-Captive Insurance Schemes