Tax Facts on Insurance & Employee Benefits is your complete source for tax information that relates to these two critical business and financial planning areas. With thousands of easy-to-use Q&As addressing key topics, Tax Facts equips advisors with the knowledge to navigate the tax implications of their client recommendations.
Tax Facts on Insurance & Employee Benefits is your complete source for tax information that relates to these two critical business and financial planning areas. With thousands of easy-to-use Q&As addressing key topics, Tax Facts equips advisors with the knowledge to navigate the tax implications of their client recommendations. Insurance and employee benefits are intricate, each with distinct tax considerations, requiring advisors to stay well-informed to deliver the thorough assessments clients depend on.
This 2-volume edition features:
Easy-to-read Q&As that comprehensively cover all aspects of insurance and employee benefits tax issues
Practical advice for any professional, including in-house HR professionals, insurance producers, and third-party advisers
Detailed explanations of the various types of insurance products and employee benefits that are most commonly used by individuals and businesses
Clear guidance on addressing practical challenges through Practice Points.
Accurate tax knowledge to prevent issues from escalating into expensive errors, and enables effective solutions when problems arise
New in the 2026 Edition:
Changes resulting from the One Big Beautiful Bill, such as:
changes to health relief offered to HDHP/HSA, determining that health plans no longer fail to qualify as HDHPs solely for providing coverage for telehealth and other remote care services before the minimum HDHP deductible is satisfied
the 100% bonus depreciation provision, including the newly created additional elective 100% depreciation deduction for certain qualified production property
new requirements to qualify for the premium tax credit with eligibility restrictions
changes to the electric vehicle tax credit and the energy efficient home credit
the expansion of the rules governing Section 529 plans and the definition of qualified education expenses
the QBI deductions for small businesses
the elimination of the personal exemption
the 2025 IRC Section 179 deduction cap raised from $1 million to $2.5 million for property placed in service
the state and local taxes (SALT) cap
the new charitable deduction for taxpayers who do not itemize
Update on how some states have developed their own state-level paid family and medical leave programs and how these programs are treated for federal and employment tax purposes
Explanation of the IRS's new form making Section 83(b) elections, allowing taxpayers who receive property that is subject to vesting to include that property in income when received, rather than when it vests
Discussion of Chapman v. Brentlinger Enterprises, where the Sixth Circuit ruled that employers may be required to grant FMLA leave when an employee must care for an adult sibling
Clarification on how spousal beneficiaries who elect to leave the account in the deceased spouse's name may now also elect to use the Uniform Lifetime Table to calculate RMDs instead of the Single Life Table
Coverage of the decision in Cunninhgam v. Cornell University, where the U.S. Supreme Court clarified that plaintiffs who bring prohibited transaction claims under ERISA must only allege that a prohibited transaction has occurred in order to proceed with their excessive fee claim
Information on several new exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty that now exist post-SECURE Acts, including how taxpayers who qualify as first-time homebuyers can withdraw up to $10,000 in IRA funds to cover costs associated with buying a home
Clarification on how the SECURE Act 2.0 now allows an employer to terminate a SIMPLE IRA and replace it with a safe harbor 401(k) mid-year
Coverage on how the DOL has announced that a retirement plan sponsor will not violate their fiduciary responsibilities with respect to transfers of small retirement balances of missing plan participants if certain conditions are met
Update how, as of March 2025, employers and plan sponsors are now able to use the U.S. Department of Labor's Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program to self-correct ERISA breaches of fiduciary duties to avoid potential DOL civil enforcement efforts and penalties
Description of the again-effective five-part test, all five prongs of the test must be satisfied for the advisor to be an investment advice fiduciary under the DOL definition
Key Topics Covered:
Annuities and life insurance products
ERISA regulations for employee benefit plans
Health and Long-term care insurance
Disclosure and record-keeping requirements
Qualified and nonqualified compensation plans
Defined contribution and defined benefit deferred compensation plans
Prof. Robert Bloink worked to put in force in excess of $2 billion of death benefits for the insurance industry’s producers in the past five years. His insurance practice incorporates sophisticated wealth-transfer techniques, as well as counseling institutions in the context of their insurance portfolios and other mortality-based exposures. Prof. Bloink is a professor of tax for the Graduate Program of International Tax and Financial Services, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA.
Previously, Prof. Bloink served as Senior Attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, Large and Mid-Sized Business Division, where he litigated many cases in the US Tax Court, served as Liaison Counsel for the Offshore Compliance Technical Assistance Program, coordinated examination programs audit teams on the development of issues for large corporate taxpayers, and taught continuing education seminars to Senior Revenue Agents involved in Large Case Exams. In his governmental capacity, Prof. Bloink became recognized as an expert in the taxation of financial structured products and was responsible for the IRS’s first FSA addressing variable forward contracts. Mr. Bloink’s core competencies led to his involvement in prosecuting some of the largest corporate tax shelters in the history of the United States.
William H. Byrnes, Esq., LL.M., CWM
William Byrnes is the leader of National Underwriter's Financial Advisory Publications, having been appointed in 2010. He is a professor and an associate dean of Texas A&M University School of Law. He is one of the leading authors and best-selling authors in the professional markets with 30 books that have sold in excess of 100,000 copies in print and online, with thousands of online database subscribers. His National Underwriter publications include Tax Facts, Advanced Markets, and Sales Essentials.
Mr. Byrnes held senior positions of international tax for Coopers & Lybrand and has been commissioned and consulted by a number of governments on their tax and fiscal policy. He has served as an operational board member for companies in several industries including fashion, durable medical equipment, office furniture and technology.
He pioneered online legal education in 1994. In 1998 he developed the first online program to achieve American Bar Association acquiescence. His Master, LL.M. and doctoral programs are leveraged by wealth managers, financial planners and life insurance underwriters.