Revised by DAVID BLUMENTHAL
Partner, Clyde & Co
For updates affecting this Division please see Part D0 Updates
Overview of and general principles of taxation of long-term insurance business
D7.401 Overview of life insurance
[For additional key resources on this topic see 'Life insurance—related content' below.]
What is life insurance?
The complexities of life insurance company taxation stem from the nature of the contract of insurance, whereby the insurer, in return for a premium paid by the insured, undertakes to provide a benefit, usually to pay a sum of money on the happening of an adverse contingency. A policy of life insurance may provide for the payment to be made on the death of the person insured, or on the first to happen of a death or the attainment of a specified age. The amount payable may be fixed in advance, or it may vary, for example, according to the profits of the insurance company, subject to a minimum amount insured.
All life insurance policies, however, depend on human mortality so that the event is
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Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 16:27