Recognizing life insurance and annuities as valuable social tools, current tax law provides generally favorable treatment for these financial products. Practitioners who understand these rules can provide a valuable service for their clients by helping design and implement life insurance and annuity plans that take maximum advantage of the tax laws.

This course provides a comprehensive study of the taxation of life insurance and annuities, focusing on income tax, estate tax, and gift tax. Life insurance and annuities are frequently the tools of choice for planners and their clients because of the many tax benefits these products provide.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the income, estate, and gift tax treatment of life insurance and annuities
• differentiate between the tax treatment of policies classified as life insurance and policies classified as modified endowment contracts
• demonstrate an understanding of how life insurance policies are taxed when they are sold under a viatical or settlement arrangement
• recognize how these products should be structured to take full advantage of their favorable tax treatment
• identify the common situations that may give rise to tax penalties