Foreign Life Insurance Articles

How to Handle Tax on a Foreign Life Insurance Policy

If you own a foreign-issued policy as a U.S. taxpayer, separate the work into three lanes. One is potential IRC Section 4371 excise tax. Another is income-tax classification under IRC Section 7702. The third is potential reporting obligations, including Form 720 and, depending on your facts and thresholds, FBAR and Form 8938. Keeping those lanes separate is the easiest way to avoid filing mistakes.