Change of annual payment date for direct insurance
April 5, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Dipl.BW/SB Ulrich Stiller
Dear Sir or Madam,
My wife has a life insurance policy, which is funded by her employer as a direct insurance policy with an annual special payment in November. The insurance policy started on 01.11.1999. The employer now wants to make the annual special payment in March instead. According to a phone inquiry, the insurance company has no problem with receiving their money 5 months later from now on. Is this change of payment date a modification of the contract, resulting in the loss of the tax advantages of the insurance policy and creating a new contract? Or is it tax-neutral?
Thank you for your response!
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I would like to answer based on your information and in the context of your commitment within the scope of an initial consultation as follows:
According to the case law of the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), for example, in the judgment of 06.07.2005 VIII R 71/04, such a contract is characterized not only by the insured person, but also by:
1. the length of the term
2. the amount of the insurance sum
3. the amount of the insurance premium
4. the duration of premium payments
If these characteristics are subsequently changed without such a change being contractually provided for at the conclusion of the contract or if one of the contracting parties has been granted an option to change the contract from the beginning, this will result in a new contract for tax purposes.
In my opinion, the rescheduling of the special payment from November to March alone does not lead to a new contract if the other characteristics remain unchanged.
Nevertheless, you should have the documents reviewed by a tax advisor, as this forum can only provide an initial assessment of the problem.
I hope I could be of assistance.
Kind regards,
Ulrich Stiller
Tax advisor/Diploma in Business Administration
