(a) What is group-term life insurance? Life insurance is not group-term life insurance for purposes of section 79 unless it meets the following conditions:

(1) It provides a general death benefit that is excludable from gross income under section 101(a).

(2) It is provided to a group of employees.

(3) It is provided under a policy carried directly or indirectly by the employer.

(4) The amount of insurance provided to each employee is computed under a formula that precludes individual selection. This formula must be based on factors such as age, years of service, compensation, or position. This condition may be satisfied even if the amount of insurance provided is determined under a limited number of alternative schedules that are based on the amount each employee elects to contribute. However, the amount of insurance provided under each schedule must be computed under a formula that precludes individual selection.

(b) May group-term life insurance be combined with other benefits? No part of the life insurance provided under a policy that provides a permanent benefit is group-term life insurance unless—

(1) The policy or the employer designates in writing the part of the death benefit provided to each employee that is group-term life insurance; and

(2) The part of the death benefit that is provided to an employee and designated as the group-term life insurance benefit for any policy year is not less than the difference between the total death benefit provided under the policy and the employee's deemed death benefit (DDB) at the end of the policy year determined under paragraph (d)(3) of this section.

(c) May a group include fewer than 10 employees?

(1) As a general rule, life insurance provided to a group of employees cannot qualify as group-term life insurance for purposes of section 79 unless, at some time during the calendar year, it is provided to at least 10 full-time employees who are members of the group of employees. For purposes of this rule, all life insurance provided under policies carried directly or indirectly by the employer is taken into account in determining the number of employees to whom life insurance is provided.

(2) The general rule of paragraph (c)(1) of this section does not apply if the following conditions are met:

(i) The insurance is provided to all full-time employees of the employer or, if evidence of insurability affects eligibility, to all full-time employees who provide evidence of insurability satisfactory to the insurer.

(ii) The amount of insurance provided is computed either as a uniform percentage of compensation or on the basis of coverage brackets established by the insurer. However, the amount computed under either method may be reduced in the case of employees who do not provide evidence of insurability satisfactory to the insurer. In general, no bracket may exceed 21⁄2 times the next lower bracket and the lowest bracket must be at least 10 percent of the highest bracket. However, the insurer may establish a separate schedule of coverage brackets for employees who are over age 65, but no bracket in the over-65 schedule may exceed 21⁄2 times the next lower bracket and the lowest bracket in the over-65 schedule must be at least 10 percent of the highest bracket in the basic schedule.

(iii) Evidence of insurability affecting employee's eligibility for insurance or the amount of insurance provided to that employee is limited to a medical questionnaire completed by the employee that does not require a physical examination.

(3) The general rule of paragraph (c)(1) of this section does not apply if the following conditions are met:

(i) The insurance is provided under a common plan to the employees of two or more unrelated employers.

(ii) The insurance is restricted to, but mandatory for, all employees of the employer who belong to or are represented by an organization (such as a union) that carries on substantial activities in addition to obtaining insurance.

(iii) Evidence of insurability does not affect an employee's eligibility for insurance or the amount of insurance provided to that employee.

(4) For purposes of paragraph (c) (2) and (3) of this section, employees are not taken into account if they are denied insurance for the following reasons:

(i) They are not eligible for insurance under the terms of the policy because they have not been employed for a waiting period, specified in the policy, which does not exceed six months.

(ii) They are part-time employees. Employees whose customary employment is for not more than 20 hours in any week, or 5 months in any calendar year, are presumed to be part-time employees.

(iii) They have reached the age of 65.

(5) For purposes of paragraph (c) (1) and (2) of this section, insurance is considered to be provided to an employee who elects not to receive insurance unless, in order to receive the insurance, the employee is required to contribute to the cost of benefits other than term life insurance. Thus, if an employee could receive term life insurance by contributing to its cost, the employee is taken into account in determining whether the insurance is provided to 10 or more employees even if such employee elects not to receive the insurance. However, an employee who must contribute to the cost of permanent benefits to obtain term life insurance is not taken into account in determining whether the term life insurance is provided to 10 or more employees unless the term life insurance is actually provided to such employee.

(d) How much must an employee receiving permanent benefits include in income?—(1) In general. If an insurance policy that meets the requirements of this section provides permanent benefits to an employee, the cost of the permanent benefits reduced by the amount paid for permanent benefits by the employee is included in the employee's income. The cost of the permanent benefits is determined under the formula in paragraph (d)(2) of this section.

(2) Formula for determining cost of the permanent benefits. In each policy year the cost of the permanent benefits for any particular employee must be no less than:

X(DDB2−DDB1)

(3) Formula for determining deemed death benefit. The deemed death benefit (DDB) at the end of any policy year for any particular employee is equal to—

R/Y

(4) Mortality tables and interest rates used. For purposes of paragraph (d) (2) and (3) of this section, the net level premium reserve (R) and the net single premium (X or Y) shall be based on the 1958 CSO Mortality Table and 4 percent interest.

(5) Dividends. If an insurance policy that meets the requirements of this section provides permanent benefits, part or all of the dividends under the policy may be includible in the employee's income. If the employee pays nothing for the permanent benefits, all dividends under the policy that are actually or constructively received by the employee are includible in the employee's income. In all other cases, the amount of dividends included in the employee's income is equal to:

(D + C)−(PI + DI + AP)

(6) Different policy and taxable years.

(i) If a policy year begins in one employee taxable year and ends in another employee taxable year, the cost of the permanent benefits, determined under the formula in paragraph (d)(2) of this section, is allocated between the employee taxable years.

(ii) The cost of permanent benefits for a policy year is allocated first to the employee taxable year in which the policy year begins. The cost of permanent benefits allocated to that policy year is equal to:

F × C

(iii) Any part of the cost of permanent benefits that is not allocated to the employee taxable year in which the policy year begins is allocated to the subsequent employee taxable year.

(iv) The cost of permanent benefits for an employee taxable year is the sum of the costs of permanent benefits allocated to that year under paragraph (d)(6) (ii) and (iii) of this section.

(7) Example. The provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following example:

(e) What is the effect of State law limits? Section 79 does not apply to life insurance in excess of the limits under applicable state law on the amount of life insurance that can be provided to an employee under a single contract of group-term life insurance.

(f) Cross references.

(1) See section 79(b) and §1.79-2 for rules relating to group-term life insurance provided to certain retired individuals.

(2) See section 61(a) and the regulations thereunder for rules relating to life insurance not meeting the requirements of section 79, this section, or §1.79-2, such as insurance provided on the life of a non-employee (for example, an employee's spouse), insurance not provided as compensation for personal services performed as an employee, insurance not provided under a policy carried directly or indirectly by the employer, or permanent benefits.

(3) See sections 106 and §1.106-1 for rules relating to certain insurance that does not provide general death benefits, such as travel insurance or accident and health insurance (including amounts payable under a double indemnity clause or rider).

(g) [Reserved]

(h) Effective date. Section 1.79-0 applies to insurance provided in employee taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1977 (except as provided in 26 CFR 1.79-1(g) (revised as of April 1, 1983) with respect to insurance provided in employee taxable years beginning in 1977). Sections 1.79-1 through 1.79-3 apply to insurance provided in employee taxable years beginning after December 31, 1982. See 26 CFR 1.79-1 through 1.79-3 (revised as of April 1, 1983) for rules applicable to insurance provided in employee taxable years beginning before January 1, 1983.

(Secs. 79(c) and 7805 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (78 Stat. 36, 26 U.S.C. 79(c); 68A Stat. 917, 26 U.S.C. 7805))

[T.D. 7623, 44 FR 28797, May 17, 1979, as amended by T.D. 7917, 48 FR 45762, Oct. 7, 1983; T.D. 7924, 48 FR 54595, Dec. 6, 1983; T.D. 8821, 64 FR 29790, June 3, 1999; T.D. 9223, 70 FR 50971, Aug. 29, 2005]