Sec. 1.72-16 Life insurance contracts purchased under qualified employee plans.

(i) Purchased as a part of a plan described in section 403(a), or

(ii) Purchased by a trust described in section 401(a) which is exempt from tax under section 501(a) if the proceeds of such contract are payable directly or indirectly to a participant in such trust or to a beneficiary of such participant.

Example. An annual premium policy purchased by a qualified trust for a common-law employee provides an annuity of $100 per month upon retirement at age 65, with a minimum death benefit of $10,000. The insurance payable if death occurred in the first year would be $10,000. The cash value at the end of the first year is 0. The net insurance is therefore $10,000 minus 0, or $10,000. Assuming that the Commissioner has determined that a reasonable net premium cost for the employee's age is $5.85 per $1,000, the premium for $10,000 of life insurance is therefore $58.50, and this is the amount to be reported as income by the employee for his taxable year in which the premium is paid. The balance of the premium is the amount contributed for the annuity, which is not taxable to the employee under a plan meeting the requirements of section 401(a), except as provided under section 402(a). Assuming that the cash value at the end of the second year is $500, the net insurance would then be $9,500 for the second year. With a net 1-year term rate of $6.30 for the employee's age in the second year, the amount to be reported as income to the employee would be $59.85.

(i) A life insurance contract described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and the employee either paid the cost of the insurance or was taxable on the cost of the insurance under paragraph (b) of this section, or

(ii) An annuity contract,

(i) In the case of an annuity contract, the death benefit is the accumulation of the premiums (plus earnings thereon) which is intended to fund pension or other deferred benefits under a pension, annuity, or profit-sharing plan. Such death benefits are not in the nature of life insurance and are not excludable from gross income under section 101(a).

(ii) In the case of a life insurance contract under which there is a reserve accumulation which is intended to fund pension or other deferred benefits under a pension, annuity, or profit-sharing plan, such reserve accumulation constitutes the source of the cash value of the contract and approximates the amount of such cash value. The portion of the proceeds paid upon the death of the insured employee which is equal to the cash value immediately before death is not excludable from gross income under section 101(a). The remaining portion, if any, of the proceeds paid to the beneficiary by reason of the death of the insured employee -- that is, the amount in excess of the cash value -- constitutes current insurance protection and is excludable under section 101(a).

(iii) The death benefit under an annuity contract, or the portion of the death proceeds under a life insurance contract which is equal to the cash value of the contract immediately before death, constitutes a distribution under the plan consisting in whole or in part of deferred compensation and is taxable to the beneficiary in accordance with section 72(m)(3) and the provisions of this paragraph, except to the extent that the limited exclusion from income provided in section 101(b) is applicable.

(iv) In the case of a life insurance contract under which the benefits are paid at a date or dates later than the death of the employee, section 101(d) is applicable only to the portion of the benefits which is attributable to the amount excludable under section 101(a). The portion of such benefits which is attributable to the cash value of the contract immediately before death is taxable under section 72, and in such case, any amount excludable under section 101(b) is treated as additional consideration paid by the employee in accordance with section 101(b)(2)(D).

Example 1.

Example 2. The facts are the same as in example (1), except that the contract provides that the beneficiary may elect within 60 days after the death of the employee either to take the $25,000 or to receive 10 annual installments of $3,000 each, and the beneficiary elects to receive the 10 installments. In addition, the employee's rights to the cash value immediately before his death were forfeitable at least to the extent of $5,000. Section 101(d) is applicable to the amount excludable under section 101(a), that is, $14,000. The portion of each annual installment of $3,000 which is attributable to this $14,000 is determined by allocating each installment in accordance with the ratio which this $14,000 bears to the total amount which was payable at death ($25,000). Accordingly, the portion of each annual installment which is subject to section 101(d) is $1,680 (14/25 of $3,000), of which $1,400 (1/10 of $14,000) is excludable under section 101(a), and the remaining $280 is includible in the gross income of the beneficiary. However, if the beneficiary is a surviving spouse as defined in section 101(d)(3), the exclusion provided by section 101(d)(1)(B) is applicable to such $280. The remaining portion of each annual $3,000 installment, $1,320, is attributable to the cash value of the contract and is treated under section 72, as follows:

Accordingly, $594 of the $1,320 portion of each annual installment is excludable each year under section 72, and the remaining $726 is includible. Thus, if the beneficiary is not a surviving spouse, a total of $1,006 ($280 plus $726) of each annual $3,000 installment is includible in income each year. If the beneficiary is a surviving spouse, and can exclude all of the $280 under section 101(d)(1)(B), the amount includible in gross income each year is $726 of each annual $3,000 installment.