Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has until August 28 to sign or veto Senate Bill 1737, a proposed new law that would reform the Illinois Insurance Code’s regulatory framework for captive insurance companies and significantly drop the state’s current premium tax rate on self-procured insurance.
If enacted, this new law would provide a substantially improved environment for Illinois-based companies looking for captive solutions.
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.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly continue to make efforts to ameliorate the impact of Illinois’ new self-procurement tax on captive insurance. On March 10, 2015, Sen. William Haine (D-Alton) filed an amendment to Senate Bill 1573, which was originally introduced under his sponsorship on February 20, 2015, and is now pending in the Senate Insurance Committee. As originally presented, the Bill would basically undo last year’s legislation (P.A. 98-978) imposing a self-procurement tax and narrowing the industrial insured exemption. The amendment takes a more nuanced approach, by carving out captive insurance arrangements from the tax while leaving the narrowed definition of industrial insured in place.
The amendment proposes to amend the law to simply provide that contracts of insurance with a captive insurance company are not subject to the taxes and fee (3.5 percent self-procurement tax, 0 percent to 1 percent fire marshal tax, 0.1 percent surplus lines association fee) imposed by Public Act 98-978. 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.
This proposed exemption for insurance placed directly with captive insurance companies would leave unaffected the increased qualification requirements to be an “industrial insured” eligible to self-procure insurance from unadmitted carriers. Insurance directly procured from a nonadmitted commercial carrier would continue to be subject to tax. The amendment also changes the effective date of the Act to January 1, 2016, whereas previously the bill would have been effective immediately upon becoming law. Insurance transacted with a qualifying captive in 2015 thus would be subject to tax under the amendment.
On March 10, 2015, House Minority Republican Leader Jim Durkin introduced House Bill 4193, which mirrors Senate Bill 1573 (as originally filed) in basically repealing the changes made last year by Public Act 98-978.
It remains to be seen whether either version of the Bill will gain traction in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, which is struggling with a large state budget deficit that will increase substantially with the 2015 rollback of Illinois’ temporary income tax increase.
On February 20, 2015, Sen. William Haine introduced Senate Bill 1573, which would repeal the self-procurement tax that came into effect January 1, 2015. As we have previously covered in detail, at the end of its 2014 regular legislative session,the Illinois General Assembly enacted a multimillion dollar tax on Illinois companies using captive insurance arrangements (P.A. 98-978). The bill had been passed by the General Assembly under the guise of technical corrections to the insurance code and went widely unnoticed throughout the legislative process. Governor Quinn signed it into law, and efforts to repeal the law during the veto session were unavailing. The new tax is currently in effect and applies to policies effective on or after January 1, 2015. Reports, due 90 days after the effective date of coverage, will begin coming due at the beginning of April, with taxes and fees due 30 days after reports are filed.
Now, with a new General Assembly and a new governor, efforts again are underway to repeal the tax. Senate Bill 1573 would reverse the changes made last year by Public Act 98-978 by repealing the self-procurement tax. In addition, the Bill restores a broader industrial insured exception to permit more Illinois-headquartered businesses that manage risks using captive insurance arrangements to transact non-admitting insurance without being subject to Illinois premium tax. The repeal would be effective upon enactment. As currently drafted, the Bill does not appear to provide relief for policies subject to tax before the effective date of the repeal.
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:
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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