Have you ever heard of captive insurance, a 419 welfare benefit plan, a 412i defined benefit insurance plan or a Section 79 scam? You may have a client in one, or be in one yourself and not even know it. You would learn quickly when the IRS disallows your tax deduction and tries to fine you lots of money. What you are about to read about below may seem impossible in America. The IRS first audits, disallows deductions, and charges interest and penalties for being in one of these abusive plans. You then think you are finished with them. Soon thereafter, you get fined hundreds of thousand of dollars for not reporting yourself to the IRS. I have been helping successful business owners and professionals with this problem for years. I have authored numerous books for the American Institute of CPAs with chapters on this problem.
I have spoken at many conventions on this topic and argued with a lot of people who didn’t think this would ever happen to them. They purchased products sold primarily by insurance agents from large well known insurance companies like Prudential, Pacific Life, Mass Mutual, Guardian, American General, etc. The plans had opinion letters from lawyers. The business owner’s accountants signed tax returns taking deductions for these plans with insurance products. Why are the business owners and professionals being fined a huge amount of money by various divisions of the IRS for doing what seemed like a legitimate thing to do? How can something like this happen in America? When many of the business owners and accountants finally take their heads out of the sand, they are usually put out of business by these fines.
Captive Insurance Plans 