PLR 201117012: Annuity certificate treatment for an investment account

Plain-English summary

The IRS ruled on a proposed certificate linked to an investment account that would provide an annual benefit if the account were depleted under specified conditions. It concluded that the group contract and certificate would be annuity contracts, and that annual benefits and annuity payments would be taxed under § 72 using an exclusion ratio. The account would not give the certificate cash value or cash surrender value. The IRS also specified which certificate fees and account liquidation proceeds would count toward the investment in the contract. The ruling was based on the taxpayer's representations and did not address matters outside the listed rulings.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: How would the proposed group contract, certificate, and linked account be treated under § 72?
• Outcome: Approved
• Key authorities: IRC § 72; Treas. Reg. §§ 1.72-1, 1.72-2, 1.72-4, and 1.7702-2

Full text (IRS public release)

Internal Revenue Service
Department of the Treasury
Washington, DC 20224

Number: 201117012
Third Party Communication: None
Release Date: 4/29/2011
Date of Communication: Not Applicable
Person To Contact:
Index Number: 72.00-00, 72.01-00, 72.02-00, ----------------, ID No. ----------------- Telephone Number:
72.07-05
---------------------
Refer Reply To:
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CC:FIP:B04
----------------------------------------- PLR-132214-10
-------------------------------------------- Date:
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January 20, 2011

Legend

Taxpayer = -------------------------------------------------------------------

Group Contract = ---------------------------------------------------------------

Certificate = ---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear ------------------:

Taxpayer has requested several rulings regarding the application of certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to a contemplated transaction.

FACTS:

The Taxpayer represents that:

The Taxpayer is a life insurance company within the meaning of § 816(a) of the Code, files its federal income tax return on a calendar year basis, and reports its income on an accrual method.

Taxpayer intends to issue Group Contract to an entity (“Sponsor”) unrelated to Taxpayer that establishes and maintains certain investment account(s) (“Account”) on behalf of an individual(s) (“Account Owner”). Taxpayer will offer Certificates under the Group Contract to eligible Account Owners. The Certificate will provide certain benefits, primarily a benefit of a specified amount (“Annual Benefit”) in the event the value of the Account is depleted before the Account Owner’s demise.

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The measuring life – the ‘annuitant’ - is generally the Account Owner; if the Certificate is owned by an entity,1 the measuring life is a natural person who has a beneficial interest in the Account. Upon purchase of the Certificate, the Account Owner can elect to have the Annual Benefit payable for either the Account Owner’s life or through the life of the second to die of the Account Owner and the Account Owner’s spouse;2 this election is a factor in the computation of factors applied to determine benefits and charges under the Certificate.

Taxpayer will offer a certificate for purchase by Account Owner who must:

a. be within a certain age range and establish an Account with Sponsor that falls within stated minimum and maximum values (“Account Value”);
b. allocate the Account Value among “Permitted Investment Profiles” and otherwise invest the Account Value in accordance with general guidelines specified and conduct all trading activity through an approved broker-dealer;
c. provide Taxpayer the information necessary to administer the Group Contract; and,
d. pay a periodic fee (“Certificate Charge”).

The Permitted Investment Profiles are designed by Taxpayer in conjunction with Sponsor to limit volatility and investment losses within the Account that would increase Taxpayer’s obligation to provide benefits under the Certificate. Though some of the permitted investments may include mutual funds or exchange traded funds that an affiliate of Taxpayer manages, there will be no limitation or requirement that the available funds have any affiliation with Taxpayer; the objective criteria used to identify approved investments will not have the effect of limiting the universe of available investments to those that share an affiliation with Taxpayer.

The Sponsor must designate a fixed income mutual fund(s) to serve as the “Home Base Fund” within each Account. The Account, including this Home Base Fund, is not property of Taxpayer or Sponsor; assets in the Account are not treated as assets of Taxpayer for financial or regulatory accounting purposes, and do not secure any rights or claims of the Taxpayer or Sponsor against the Account Owner, or obligations of the Account Owner to the Taxpayer or Sponsor.

1
As allowed by § 72(u)(1).
2
Taxpayer represents that any payout under the Certificate will be consistent with § 72(s).

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The Account Owner is the legal owner of the assets in the Account, including those in the Home Base Fund, and can withdraw monies subject to the restrictions imposed by the Certificate.

The Account Owner must rebalance the Account at least quarterly. Taxpayer and Sponsor will monitor the performance of the profiles and the accounts subject to the Group Contract. Sponsor will correct any imbalance caused by market value fluctuations. Taxpayer will monitor the performance daily by measuring the Account against a quotient derived from a specified formula. If the measure of the Account exceeds this quotient, Taxpayer will direct Sponsor to liquidate a portion of the assets held in the Account and allocate the proceeds to the Home Base Fund. If the measure of the Account is inferior to this quotient, Taxpayer will direct Sponsor to liquidate a corresponding portion of the Account allocated to the Home Base Fund and invest it according to the Permitted Investment Profile.

The benefit provided by the Certificate is determined by reference to an “Annual Income Amount,” which is the maximum amount the Account Owner may withdraw each year from the Account without certain consequences described below. The initial Annual Income Amount is determined at the time the first withdrawal is made after issuance of the Certificate by applying a “Withdrawal Factor” to a “Withdrawal Base” then in effect The Withdrawal Base is determined each day, by reference to both market values and any applicable specified “Guaranteed Increase Rate” (expressed as an annual interest rate) or “Guaranteed Base Increase.” The precise mechanics of this determination is different once there has been a withdrawal from the Account; additions to the Account (i.e., additional contributions) are included in determining the Withdrawal base provided they do not cause the Account Value to exceed a specified maximum limit.3

An amount withdrawn during the year that exceeds the Annual Income Amount is an “Excess Withdrawal.” An Excess Withdrawal proportionately reduces both the Annual Income Amount and the Withdrawal Base. Except for adjustments resulting from an Excess Withdrawal, the Annual Income Amount is not reduced. If the amount withdrawn from the Account during a year is less than the Annual Income Amount (e.g., if there were no withdrawal), the un-withdrawn Annual Income Amount does not increase the Annual Income Amount for subsequent years.

If the Account Value is reduced to zero by other than an Excess Withdrawal, Taxpayer will commence payments of an “Annual Benefit.”4 Thus, an Annual Benefit

3
The specified maximum limit is a restraint on contributions. There is no specified limit on the value of the Account resulting from the performance of the Permitted Investment Profile. 4 The default modality of payment is annual.

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under the Certificate is payable if the value of the Account is reduced to zero solely by withdrawals of the Annual Income Amount, not as a result of losses incurred in the Account. The amount of the Annual Benefit is equal to the Annual Income Amount in effect as of the date the Account Value was reduced to zero for reasons other than Excess Withdrawals. In the year in which the Account Value is reduced to zero, the Annual Benefit equals the Annual Income Amount not yet withdrawn in that year. The Annual Benefit is payable until the demise of the measuring life under the Account.

The Certificate Fee is determined by applying a “Fee Factor” to the greater of the Withdrawal Base and the Account Value. The fee is charged until the earlier of the commencement of the Annual Benefit and termination of the Certificate.5 Payment of the Certificate Fee from the Account is not treated as a withdrawal.

Prior to the commencement of the Annual Benefit, the Certificate terminates upon the happening of specified events:

1. the Account Owner elects to terminate the Certificate;
2. the Account Owner dies;
3. the Account Owner fails to timely pay the Certificate Fee;
4. the Account Owner depletes the Account because of an Excess Withdrawal;
5. the Account Owner or the Sponsor fails to adhere to the Permitted Investment Profile;
6. the Group Contract terminates before the annuity purchase guarantee is exercised or Annual Benefit payments have commenced; or, 7. the Account Owner closes the Account without exercising the annuity purchase guarantee.

Upon termination of the Certificate the portion of the Account Value allocated to the Home Base Fund will be liquidated.

The Group Contract can be terminated at the discretion of Taxpayer if:

1. Sponsor fails to comply with the provisions of the Group Contract (including violation of any applicable law);
2. Sponsor stops administering the Group Contract without arranging with Taxpayer for a successor administrator; or, 3. Taxpayer and Sponsor agree to terminate the Group Contract.

5
With respect to any applicable Guaranteed Base Increase feature, the Certificate Fee will be increased to the current rate offered for new Certificates. At such time the Account Owner will have the opportunity to forfeit future applicable Guaranteed Base Increases instead.

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If the Group Contract is terminated, Taxpayer will pay Account Owner an amount that represents the excess of the fair market value of the Certificate over the current Account Value.6

If the Group Contract or Certificate is terminated after Taxpayer has begun paying the Annual Benefit, the Annual Benefit will not be affected and will continue.

The Certificate also entitles the Account Owner to apply the Account Value to purchase a stream of annuity payments (“Annuity Payments”) at rates specified in the Certificate, for either life or life with a period certain. Part of the process of effecting this option is for the Account to be liquidated and the proceeds transferred to Taxpayer.

Sponsor may assign the Group Contract with Taxpayer’s consent as permitted by applicable law but the Certificate may not be assigned.

REQUESTED RULINGS

Taxpayer requests the following rulings:

1. The Group Contract and Certificate will constitute an annuity contract for purposes of § 72;

2. The Annual Benefit and Annuity Payments will be taxable as “amounts received as an annuity” using an “exclusion ratio” under § 72(b);

3. The Account will not cause the Group Contract or Certificate to have a “cash value” or “cash surrender value” for purposes of § 72, and will not otherwise be part of the Group Contract or Certificate for federal tax purposes;

4. For purposes of § 72(c)(1) and § 72(e)(6) (each defining “investment in the contract”), the “aggregate amount of premiums or other consideration paid” for the Certificate will equal the sum of all Certificate Fees paid under the Certificate plus any proceeds paid to Taxpayer upon liquidation of the Account in consideration for Annuity Payments.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Requested Ruling #1

Section 72(a) provides that except as otherwise provided, gross income includes any amount received as an annuity (whether for a period certain or during one or more

6
That is, the present value of the projected future Annual Benefit over the current Account Value.

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lives) under an annuity, endowment, or life insurance contract. The Code does not otherwise define an annuity contract or “any amount received as an annuity.”

Section 1.72-2(a)(1) of the Income Tax Regulations provides that the contracts under which amounts paid will be subject to the provisions of § 72 include contracts which are considered to be life insurance, endowment, and annuity contracts in accordance with the customary practice of life insurance companies. Under §§ 1.72- 1(b) and (c), as a general matter “amounts received as an annuity” are amounts which are payable at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year from the date on which they are deemed to begin, provided the total of the amounts so payable or the period for which they are to be paid can be determined as of that date, a proportionate part of which is considered to represent a return of premiums or other consideration paid. Under § 1.72-2(b), amounts are considered as “amounts received as an annuity” only if all of the following tests are met: 1) the amounts must be received on or after the annuity starting date, 2) the amounts must be payable in periodic installments at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year from the annuity starting date, and 3) the amounts payable must be determinable either directly from the terms of the contract or indirectly from the use of either mortality tables or compound interest computations, or both (if the contract is a variable contract, § 1.72-2(b)(3) provides an alternative formulation of this requirement). Under § 1.72-4(b)(1), the annuity starting date is the first day of the first period for which an amount is received as an annuity; the first day of the first period for which an amount is received as an annuity shall be the later of 1) the date upon which the obligations under the contract became fixed or 2) the first day of the period which ends on the date of the first annuity payment.

Explaining imposition of an “income-out-first” rule under §72(e) for withdrawals prior to the annuity starting date, the Senate report described a commercial annuity as
a promise by a life insurance company to pay the beneficiary a given sum for a specified period, which period may terminate at death. Annuity contracts permit the systematic liquidation of an amount consisting of principal (the policyholder’s investment in the contract) and income….An individual may purchase an annuity by payment of a single premium or by making periodic payments. A deferred annuity contract may, at the election of the individual, be surrendered before annuity payments begin, in exchange for the cash value of the contract….The committee believes that the use of deferred annuity contracts to meet long-term investment goals, such as income security, is still a worthy ideal.

S. Rep. No. 97-494 at 349-50 (1982)(footnote omitted). The report also explains § 72’s utilization of an exclusion ratio regime: “[a] portion of each amount paid to a policyholder

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as an annuity generally is taxed as ordinary income under an ‘exclusion ratio’ (§ 72(b)) computed to reflect the projected nontaxable return of investment in the contract and the taxable growth on the investment.” Id. As described in Samuel v. Commissioner, 306 F.2d 682, 687 (1st Cir. 1962), aff’g Archibishop Samuel Trust v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 641 (1961), acq., 1964-2 C.B. 3

[i]nherent in the concept of an annuity is a transfer of cash or property from one party to another in return for a promise to pay a specific periodic sum for a stipulated time interval….Again, in the normal annuity situation, once the annuitant has transferred the cash or property to the obligor and has received his contractual right to periodic payments, he is unconcerned with the ultimate disposition of the property transferred once it is in the obligor’s hands.

In Life & Health Insurance, Black and Skipper state that “[i]n the broadest sense, an annuity is simply a series of periodic payments” and while “[l]ife insurance has as its principal mission the creation of a fund [, t]he annuity, on the contrary, has as its basic function the systematic liquidation of a fund.” Accordingly,

[e]ach payment under an annuity may be considered to represent a combination of principal and interest income and a survivorship element. Although not completely accurate, one can view the operation of an annuity as follows: If a person exactly lives out his or her life expectancy, he or she would have neither gained nor lost through utilizing the annuity contract.

Kenneth Black, Jr. and Harold D. Skipper, Jr., Life & Health Insurance 161-62 (13th ed. 2000).

Elsewhere an annuity has been described as “a right to receive fixed, periodic payments, for a specified period of time” and an annuity contract as
a contract under which, in exchange for the payment of a premium or premiums, the recipient thereof is bound to make future payments, typically at regular intervals, in amounts, to payees, and conditions specified in the parties’ agreement. The determining characteristic of an annuity is that the annuitant has an interest only in the periodic payments and not in any principal fund or source from which they may be derived. Although an individual who purchases an annuity remains the technical owner of the asset, he or she does not retain total control over that asset and does not

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have unfettered access to the full amount of his or her own “property”.

4 Am. Jur. 2d Annuities, § 1 (2008). Moreover, “[t]he purchaser of an annuity surrenders all rights to the money paid, and therefore installment payments of a debt, or payments of interest on a debt, do not constitute an annuity.” Id., § 2.

Whether an annuity contract allows the owner to access the value of the contract through other than periodic (“annuity”) payments is a product of state statute, Appleman on Insurance § 182:05[B][7] and [8] (2d ed. 2008).

Here, on balance the Group Contract and Certificate possess the essential attributes of an annuity. It is true that the Certificate may not, “at the election of the [Account Owner], be surrendered before annuity payments begin, in exchange for the cash value of the contract”, S. Rep. No. 97-464 at 349. It is also true that because the annuity starting date for the Annual Benefit is contingent upon the value of the Account being exhausted while Account Owner is alive, it is not the case that “if [Account Owner] exactly lives out his or her life expectancy, he or she would have neither gained nor lost through utilizing the annuity contract”, Life & Health Insurance, at 162, but these conditions are not dispositive.

The Group Contract and Certificate and the amounts paid under the Group Contract and Certificate meet the requirements of §§ 1.72-1(b) and (c), 1.72-2(a)(1) and (b)(3), and 1.72-4(b)(1) as annuity contracts and annuity payments. Additionally, the Group Contract and Certificate is purchased “by making periodic payments” of premium for “a promise by a life insurance company to pay the beneficiary a given sum for a specified period, which period may terminate at death”, and is “used to provide long- term income security.” S. Rep. No. 97-464 at 349. Moreover, it has ”the determining characteristic … that the annuitant has an interest only in the periodic payments and not in any principal fund or source from which they may be derived.” 4 Am. Jur. 2d Annuities, §1. The Account Owner will have “surrender[ed] all rights to the money paid”, thereby distinguishing the Certificate from “installment payments of a debt, or payments of interest on a debt”, which are not annuities. Id.

The Group Contract and Certificate is not a contract to pay interest. See § 1.72- 14(a).

Accordingly, the Group Contract and Certificate will constitute an annuity contract for purposes of § 72.

Requested Ruling #2

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Section 72(a) provides that gross income includes any amount received as an annuity (whether for a period certain or during one or more lives) under an annuity, endowment, or life insurance contract.

Section 72(b)(1) provides that gross income does not include that part of any amount received as an annuity under an annuity, endowment, or life insurance contract which bears the same ratio to such amount as the investment in the contract (as of the annuity starting date) bears to the expected return under the contract (as of such date).

Section 72(c)(4) defines “annuity starting date” as the first day of the first period for which an amount is received as an annuity under the contract.

Section 1.72-2(b)(2) defines “amounts received as an annuity” as only those amounts that meet all of the following tests:
a. they must be received on or after the ‘annuity starting date’ as that term is defined in § 1.72-4(b); b. they must be payable in periodic installments at regular intervals (whether annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or otherwise) over a period of more than one full year from the annuity starting date; and c. except as indicated in § 1.72-2(b)(3), the total of the amounts payable must be determinable at the annuity starting date either directly from the terms of the contract or indirectly by use of either mortality tables or compound interest computations, or both, in conjunction with such terms and in accordance with sound actuarial theory.

Section 1.72-4(b) defines “annuity starting date” as the first day of the first period for which an amount is received as an annuity; the first day of the first period for which an amount is received as an annuity shall be whichever of the following is the later:
a. the date upon which the obligations under the contract became fixed, or b. the first day of the period (year, half-year, quarter, month, or otherwise, depending on whether payments are to be made annually, semiannually, quarterly, monthly, or otherwise) which ends on the date of the first annuity payment.

Here, with respect to the Annual Benefit, when the Annual Benefit becomes payable the obligations under the Certificate become fixed: no additional Certificate Charges are due and the benefit obligation of Taxpayer is fixed at paying the Annual Benefit until the annuitant(s)’ demise. Hence, the Annual Benefit will be received on or after the annuity starting date.

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Second, the Annual Benefit will be paid periodically at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year from the annuity starting date (unless death occurs).

Third, the total amount payable is determinable from the Certificate using mortality tables and sound actuarial theory.

Accordingly, the Annual Benefit will be an “amount received as an annuity.”

With respect to the Annuity Payment, if the Account Owner exercises that option the obligations under the Certificate become fixed: no additional Certificate Charges are due and the benefit obligation of Taxpayer is to pay the annuity settlement option consistent with the rate guarantee. Hence, the Annuity Payments will be received on or after the annuity starting date.

Second, the Annuity Payments will be paid periodically at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year from the annuity starting date, consistent with the annuity settlement option.

Third, the total amount payable is determinable from the Certificate’s rate guarantee using mortality tables and sound actuarial theory.

Accordingly, the Annuity Payment will be “an amount received as an annuity.”

Either the Annual Benefit or the Annuity Payment7 will be taxable under § 72(a) as an amount received as an annuity, subject to the exclusion of the amount allocable to the investment in the contract determined under § 72(b).

Requested Ruling #3

Section 72 does not define the terms “cash value” or “cash surrender value” with regard to an annuity contract. With regard to a life insurance contract, § 7702(f)(2)(A) defines “cash surrender value” as “cash value determined without regard to any surrender charge, policy loan, or reasonable termination dividend.” Section 1.7702- 2(h)(2) of the Proposed Income Tax Regulations defines “cash surrender value” of a life insurance contract as generally equaling its “cash value”, which in turn is defined by proposed § 1.7702-2(b)(1) as “the maximum amount payable under the contract (determined without regard to any surrender charge or policy loan); or the maximum amount that the policyholder can borrow under the contract.”8 See also H.R. Rep. No. 98-432 at 1444. 7 The Account Owner cannot receive both.
8
Cf. § 1.7702-2(b)(2), which provides certain exclusions from cash value, none of which are relevant to this discussion.

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The common definition of “cash surrender value” is “the amount made available, contractually, to a withdrawing policyowner who is terminating his or her prortection.” Kenneth Black, Jr. & Harold D. Skipper, Jr., LIFE & HEALTH INSURANCE 46 (13th ed. 2000); see also John H. Magee, LIFE INSURANCE 599 (3d ed. 1958) (“The cash value represents the amount available to the policyholder upon the surrender of the life insurance contract.”)

Rev. Rul. 77-85, 1977-1 C.B. 12, addressed an arrangement involving an ‘investment annuity policy’ that has some features similar to Taxpayer’s proposed arrangement. In the ruling,

[t]he policyholder may not receive any amount directly from the account and may not receive a distribution of assets in kind. At any time prior to the annuity starting date, however, the policyholder may make a full or partial surrender of the policy to the insurance company. If such a surrender is made, the custodian is directed by the agreement to sell all or part of the assets as appropriate and to pay over the necessary proceeds to the insurance company. The insurance company in turn will make the full or partial cash surrender payment to the policyholder in an amount equal to the proceeds received by the insurance company from the account, less any cash surrender charges.

The ruling does not address whether the underlying account created any “cash value” or “cash surrender value” for the investment annuity policy. Nonetheless, the contrast in the mechanics illustrates the loose connection between the Account and the Certificate. The Certificate cannot be monetized at the discretion of Account Owner9 other than through receipt of Annual Benefit or exercise of the option to receive Annuity Payments. It cannot be assigned, cannot be surrendered in whole or part in exchange for cash, and cannot be used as collateral against a loan from Taxpayer. The connection to the Account is unlike that in the ruling – the Account Value is used to only pay the Certificate Fee or to purchase the Annuity Payments if that option is exercised. The Account Owner can access the Account Value without operation of the Certificate, though with consequences if, for example, such access produces an Excess Withdrawal or investments outside the Permitted Investment Profile.

9
If the Group Contract is terminated before either the Annual Benefit commences or the option to receive Annuity Payments is exercised, Taxpayer will pay the termination amount described above. This amount is not available at the discretion of the Account Owner hence is not the monetization contemplated by “cash value” or “cash surrender value.”

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Although the Certificate has utility only in conjunction with an eligible Account under the auspices of Sponsor, ‘controls’ the Account Owner’s activities with regard to that Account, and cannot be alienated or otherwise monetized, the Account is not so intertwined with Certificate as to be effectively part of the Certificate. Cf. Rev. Rul. 77- 85; Rev. Rul. 2003-97, 2003-2 C.B. 380.

Requested Ruling #4

Section 72(c)(1) provides that, for purposes of the exclusion ratio under § 72(b), the “investment in the contract” as of the annuity starting date is the aggregate amount of premiums or other consideration paid for the contract, minus the aggregate amount received under the contract before such date, to the extent that such amount was excludable from gross income. Under § 72(c)(2), this amount is then reduced by the value of the refund feature, if any.

Section 72(e)(6) provides that for purposes of § 72(e), the “investment in the contract” as of any date is the aggregate amount of premiums or other consideration paid for the contract before such date, minus the aggregate amount received under the contract before such date, to the extent that such amount was excludable from gross income.

As mentioned, Rev. Rul. 77-85 addressed an arrangement with some similar features. That ruling held that the issuer should include in it’s premium income only the premiums and charges paid each year.

Accordingly, with regard to the Annual Benefit, the Certificate Fee should be taken into account in the determination of an Account Owner’s “investment in the contract” for the Certificate under § 72; with regard to Annuity Payments, both the Certificate Fee and the amount remitted to Taxpayer upon exercise of the option to receive Annuity Payments should be taken into account in the determination of Account Owner’s “investment in the contract” for the Certificate under § 72.

RULINGS

Based on the foregoing,

1. The Group Contract and Certificate will constitute an annuity contract for
   purposes of § 72.

2. The Annual Benefit and Annuity Payments will be taxable as “amounts received
   as an annuity” using an “exclusion ratio” under § 72(b).

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3. The Account will not case the Group Contract or Certificate to have a “cash
   value” or “cash surrender value” for purposes of § 72, and will not otherwise be
   part of the Group Contract or Certificate for federal tax purposes.

4. For purposes of § 72(c)(1) and § 72(e)(6) (each defining “investment in the
   contract”), the “aggregate amount of premiums or other consideration paid” for
   the Certificate will equal the sum of the Certificate Fees paid under the Certificate
   plus any proceeds paid to Taxpayer upon liquidation of the Account in
   consideration of Annuity Payments.

   The rulings contained in this letter are based upon information and
   representations submitted by Taxpayer and accompanied by a penalty of perjury statement executed by an appropriate party. This office has not verified any of the material submitted in support of the request for rulings and it is subject to verification upon examination.

   Except as expressly provided herein, no opinion is expressed or implied
   

   concerning the tax consequences of any aspect of any transaction or item discussed or referenced in this letter, including but not limited to issues under Subchapter D (§ 401 et seq.), the computation of the exclusion ratio under § 72(b), or the computation of the reserve under § 807(d).

   This ruling is directed only to the taxpayer requesting it. Section 6110(k)(3)
   provides that it may not be used or cited as precedent.

    In accordance with the Power of Attorney on file with this office, a copy of this
   

   letter is being sent to your authorized representative.

                                  Sincerely,
   
                                      /S/
   
                                  Sheryl B. Flum
                                  Branch Chief, Branch 4
                                  (Financial Institutions & Products)