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One Down, One to Go: Illinois Senate Passes Captive Insurance Exemption to Illinois Self-Procurement Tax

by Mary Kay McCalla Martire | Apr 22, 2015 | Illinois, Insurance Tax

On April 21, 2015, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 1573, as amended. As we have previously covered, the amended Bill creates an exemption from the 3.5 percent self-procurement tax and 0.2 percent Surplus Lines Association of Illinois stamping fee (and the up to 1.0 percent fire marshal tax, if applicable) for “contracts of insurance with a captive insurance company.” The amendment defines a “captive insurance company” broadly to include “any affiliated insurance company … or special purpose financial captive insurance company formed to insure the operational risks of the company’s parent or affiliates, risks of a controlled unaffiliated business, or other risks approved by the captive insurance company’s board or other regulatory body.” The definition also enumerates several kinds of captive insurance companies as specifically included. Insurance directly procured from a nonadmitted commercial carrier—or any other person not meeting the definition of “captive insurance company”—would continue to be subject to the tax.

The bill now goes to the Illinois House of Representatives, where it has been assigned to the House Rules Committee. The bill’s supporters are hopeful that the House could pass it as a standalone bill. There also is a possibility that the bill could be included in a broader package of tax legislation at the end of the legislative session.

Practice Notes

1. Even if enacted, the bill would not provide immediate relief to Illinois captive insureds. The bill’s effective date is January 1, 2016. Thus, insurance transacted with a qualifying captive in 2015 would still be subject to the tax.

2. The bill does not change the increased qualification requirements to be an “industrial insured” eligible to self-procure insurance from unadmitted carriers, which came into effect together with the tax on January 1, 2015. An industrial insured must still meet the requirements of an “exempt commercial purchaser” under 215 ILCS 5/445(1), which include having nationwide commercial property and casualty insurance premiums in excess of $100,000 annually and having any of (a) net worth of more than $20 million, (b) more than $50 million of annual revenues, (c) more than 500 full time employees or more than 1,000 employees in an affiliated group, (d) a nonprofit organization with at least a $30 million budget or (e) a municipality with a population in excess of 50,000 persons.

Unfinished Business: Illinois General Assembly Fails to Repeal Self-Procured Insurance Tax

by Mary Kay McCalla Martire | Dec 15, 2014 | Illinois, Insurance Tax

Despite a strong effort by a coalition of opponents, efforts to repeal the new Illinois self-procured insurance tax law in the veto session of the Illinois General Assembly were unsuccessful. As a result, the law will take effect on January 1, 2015.

As previously covered on this blog, Illinois allows “industrial insureds” to independently procure insurance. Prior to the enactment of the self-procured insurance tax law, Illinois had not imposed tax on these transactions. At the end of the spring legislative session, supposedly technical amendments to the insurance code were passed that imposed a 3.5 percent premium tax on these policies (plus an additional fire marshal tax and surplus line association fee, bringing the total to between 3.6 percent and 4.6 percent depending on the type of insurance). This tax is imposed on the nationwide premium if the insured’s home state is Illinois. Effectively, the statute is a tax on Illinois-headquartered businesses that use captive insurance risk management arrangements.

Despite being alerted to the unfriendly business impact of the bill, Governor Quinn signed it into law with an effective date of January 1, 2015. Since then, the Illinois business community has sought the repeal of the tax or its amendment to exempt captives. There had been hope that this could be achieved after the November election during the veto session or a lame duck session. The Illinois House of Representatives, however, has adjourned and does not plan to reconvene until the 99th General Assembly is inaugurated on January 14, 2015. (The Senate also has adjourned, although the Senate President has left open the possibility of reconvening before inauguration.) Going into the 99th General Assembly, efforts will continue to seek legislative relief for captive insurance arrangements.

The new tax applies to policies of insurance effective on or after January 1, 2015. Within 90 days after the effective date of such a policy, qualifying insureds must file a report with the Surplus Lines Association of Illinois (similar to that required of a surplus lines broker). Within 30 days of filing that report, the insured then must pay to the Department of Insurance the premium tax and, if applicable, the fire marshal tax. Also within those 30 days the insured must pay the 0.1 percent surplus lines association fee to the Surplus Line Association of Illinois. Neither the Department of Insurance nor the Surplus Line Association of Illinois has posted forms or guidance on their websites. Indeed, the guidance on the Surplus Line Association website is outdated and does not reflect the 2014 amendments.

Affected taxpayers should carefully consider their compliance obligations and how to proceed amidst this uncertainty. We will post on this subject again when/if additional guidelines are issued.

Illinois Enacts Legislation Imposing a Self-Procurement Tax While Also Narrowing the Industrial Insured Exception for Transacting Nonadmitted Insurance

by Eric D. Carstens and Mary Kay McCalla Martire | Sep 11, 2014 | Illinois, Insurance Tax

Illinois will soon begin taxing self-procured insurance premiums for the first time, as required by Senate Bill 3324, now Public Act 98-0978 (the Act). The Act, which was signed into law by Governor Quinn on August 15, was quietly ushered through the General Assembly as a supposed technical amendment. The Act is anything but—it substantively amends Illinois law to tax Illinois-based companies who self-procure insurance as though they were surplus lines brokers, imposing a 3.5 percent self-procurement tax, together with additional fees and charges. In addition, the Act makes it harder for Illinois companies to self-insure by narrowing the definition of an “industrial insured” and increasing the qualification requirements for risk managers. The new law applies to policies of insurance effective on or after January 1, 2015.

As we explained in a prior post, the Act hurts Illinois-headquartered businesses that manage risks using captive insurance arrangements. With the 2011 enactment of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), a company’s home state – typically its principal place of business – has exclusive authority to tax and regulate nonadmitted insurance. See 15 U.S.C. § 8201. For Illinois-headquartered businesses, this arrangement worked well because Illinois law previously allowed “industrial insureds” – companies meeting minimal size and sophistication requirements – to transact nonadmitted insurance without paying tax. An Illinois-headquartered company thus could obtain insurance from its captive domiciled overseas or in a captive-friendly U.S. state without paying any tax on its premiums.

The Act ends this business-friendly state of affairs. An industrial insured transacting nonadmitted insurance for a policy taking effect on or after January 1, 2015, will now have to withhold (or pay out-of-pocket if it does not withhold) a 3.5 percent premium tax on insurance contracts. Two additional charges increase the total effective rate to anywhere from 3.6 percent to 4.6 percent: a countersigning fee of 0.1 percent to support the Surplus Line Association of Illinois, and for certain lines of insurance, a fire marshal tax of anywhere from 0.01 percent to 1.00 percent of premium.

The Act also makes it more difficult for Illinois companies to self-insure by narrowing the definition of an “industrial insured,” where companies must qualify as an “industrial insured” in order to have the right to self-insure. Until now Illinois company could be an “industrial insured” if its annual premium for insurance of all risks except life and accident and health insurance exceeded $100,000 and it had either (a) at least 25 full-time employees, (b) more than $3 million of gross assets, or (c) gross revenues of more than $5 million. Under the Act, an industrial insured now must meet the requirements of an “exempt commercial purchaser” under 215 ILCS 5/445(1), which include having nationwide commercial property and casualty insurance premiums in excess of $100,000 annually and having either (a) net worth of more than $20 million, (b) more than $50 million of annual revenues, (c) more than 500 full time employees or more than 1,000 employees in an affiliated group, (d) a nonprofit [...]

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The S.B. 3324 Self-Procurement Tax: No More “Home State” Advantage for Illinois Industrial Insureds?

by Mary Kay McCalla Martire | Jun 20, 2014 | Illinois, Insurance Tax

Illinois Senate Bill 3324, an insurance bill that would impose a premium tax on Illinois companies obtaining unauthorized insurance, has passed the General Assembly and is awaiting Governor Quinn’s signature. If signed into law, the bill will have a significant negative impact on captive insurance and any other unadmitted insurance arrangements used by businesses with a home state of Illinois. Such companies will be taxed on 3.5 percent of their premiums paid on unadmitted policies effective January 1, 2015, and thereafter.

The Favorable Status Quo for Illinois “Industrial” Insureds under the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA)

A state’s premium tax structure typically has three components:

A tax on the premiums received by insurers that are admitted to transact insurance and are regulated by the state;
A tax on the premiums received by surplus lines brokers (typically at a higher rate than the premium tax for admitted insurers); and
A tax on the premiums paid by insureds who obtain their own insurance from unauthorized insurers (sometimes called a self-procured insurance tax), often at the same rate as the surplus lines tax.

Until now, Illinois has not taxed self-procured insurance. Illinois traditionally has allowed “industrial insureds” – companies meeting certain thresholds of size and sophistication – to obtain coverage from non-admitted insurers without violating the prohibition against the unauthorized transaction of insurance in the state (see 215 ILCS 5/121-2 (prohibiting transacting insurance without a certificate of authority), 121-2.08 (excepting transactions with “industrial insureds” and defining the term)) and without the imposition of premium tax.

This exception became particularly beneficial to companies headquartered in Illinois after the enactment of the NRRA, which was part of the Dodd-Frank Act. See P.L. 111-203, tit. V, §§ 521-527, 124 Stat. 1589 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 8201 et seq.). The NRRA provides that “[n]o State other than the home State of an insured may require any premium tax payment for nonadmitted insurance.” 15 U.S.C. § 8201(a). The “home state” is generally a company’s principal place of business. See 15 U.S.C. § 8206(6) (a detailed discussion of the definition of “home state” is beyond the scope of this post). With the enactment of the NRRA, companies having Illinois as their “home state” have experienced a significant savings: If they qualify as industrial insureds, they effectively can obtain unauthorized insurance coverage of their nationwide risks without paying any state premium tax, as Illinois doesn’t impose a premium tax and other states are precluded from collecting tax from non “home state” companies.

S.B. 3324 Would Impose a 3.5 percent Tax on Premiums Paid by Illinois Industrial Insureds

S.B. 3324 would end this happy state of affairs. It amends 215 ILCS 5/121-2.08 to require industrial insureds to pay tax at the 3.5 percent of premiums rate that is applicable to surplus lines transactions (imposed at 215 ILCS 5/445(3)(a)(ii)). The adverse impact of the tax could be significant, particularly for Illinois home state industrial insureds with captive insurance [...]

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