Do you pay taxes on insurance cash value? (2024)

Do you pay taxes on insurance cash value?

In most cases, cash value life insurance isn't taxable. Your beneficiaries can receive the death benefit as a lump sum tax-free, though they won't receive your cash value balance. As a policyholder, you'll typically only pay taxes on the cash value if you take out more money than you put in through premiums.

Fortunately, the cash value of life insurance grows tax-free. This means that, in many cases, you won't have to worry about paying taxes on it.

Do You Have to Pay Taxes When Cashing out a Life Insurance Policy? If you withdraw up to the amount of the total premiums paid into the policy, the transaction is not taxable as it is considered a return of premiums.

Calculating how much of the cash surrender value will be taxed is fairly simple: The difference between the cash value of your policy and how much you have paid in premiums is the cash surrender value that will be taxed.

Generally, life insurance proceeds you receive as a beneficiary due to the death of the insured person, aren't includable in gross income and you don't have to report them. However, any interest you receive is taxable and you should report it as interest received. See Topic 403 for more information about interest.

When you pass away, cash value typically reverts back to the life insurance company. Your beneficiaries receive the policy's death benefit amount minus any loans and withdrawals from the cash value you made.

Cash value is the portion of your policy that accumulates¹ over time and may be available for you to withdraw or borrow against for long-term savings needs such as retirement, paying down a mortgage, covering an unforeseen emergency, or a significant expense, like sending your child to college.

However, most people receive around 20% of the face value on average, according to LISA. So, if we're using that 20% average to calculate the cash value of a $100,000 life insurance policy, the cash value of the policy would be $20,000.

When a policy is surrendered for its cash value, you'll lose coverage and no longer be responsible for paying insurance premiums. You may have to pay surrender fees for canceling your coverage early, which will be deducted from any cash value your policy has or paid out of pocket if you have a term policy.

Examples of Cash Value Life Insurance

An example is a cash value life insurance policy with a $25,000 death benefit. Assuming you don't take out a loan or withdraw, the cash value accumulates to $5,000. After the policyholder's death, the insurance company would pay out the full death benefit, which would be $25,000.

How do I avoid tax on life insurance proceeds?

Using an Ownership Transfer to Avoid Taxation

If you want your life insurance proceeds to avoid federal taxation, you'll need to transfer ownership of your policy to another person or entity.

Do beneficiaries pay taxes on life insurance policies? In general, beneficiaries do not need to pay taxes on the life insurance death benefit they receive, especially if they receive it as a lump sum.

Surrender of policy for cash.

You should receive a Form 1099-R showing the total proceeds and the taxable part. Report these amounts on lines 5a and 5b of Form 1040 or 1040-SR. To report the proceeds from a policy surrendered for cash, go to our Form 1099-R - Entering Distributions from Retirement Plans FAQ.

Unfortunately, funeral expenses are not tax-deductible for individual taxpayers. This means that you cannot deduct the cost of a funeral from your individual tax returns. While individuals cannot deduct funeral expenses, eligible estates may be able to claim a deduction if the estate paid these costs.

Lump Sum Benefits

The taxable portion of the Basic Death Benefit, Retired Death Benefit, Option 1 balance, and Temporary Annuity balance is subject to a mandatory 20 percent federal tax withholding rate.

Income can be money, property, goods or services. Even if you don't receive a form reporting income, you should report it on your tax return. Income is taxable when you receive it, even if you don't cash it or use it right away. It's considered your income even if it's paid to someone else on your behalf.

Cash value life insurance is more expensive than term life insurance. Unlike term life insurance, cash value insurance policies don't expire after a specific number of years. You may borrow against a cash value life insurance policy. You may also withdraw cash from the policy, but this will reduce the death benefit.

What happens to the cash value after the policy is fully paid up? The company plans to use the cash value to pay premiums until you die. If you take cash value out, there may not be enough to pay premiums.

Cash value life insurance policies, such as whole life or universal life insurance, are more expensive than term life insurance, and you're unlikely to see a significant cash value balance in the early years of your policy. In addition, your beneficiaries won't get the cash value when you pass away.

Term life is often the most affordable life insurance because it's temporary and has no cash value. Whole life premiums are much higher because the coverage typically lasts your lifetime, and the policy grows cash value.

Do insurance companies pay actual cash value?

Generally, if you have Replacement Cost Coverage, the insurance company may first pay you the actual cash value. Once the item is repaired/replaced and receipt(s) submitted, the company will reimburse you the extra money you paid to replace/repair the item.

Withdrawals are typically tax-free up to the amount of premiums paid into the policy. However, withdrawing more than that amount may result in owing income tax on the gains. Don't forget that this could lead to a reduced death benefit and the potential application of partial surrender charges.

Cash value: In most cases, the cash value portion of a life insurance policy doesn't begin to accrue until 2-5 years have passed. Once cash value begins to build, it becomes available to you according to your policy's guidelines.

If you have a permanent life insurance policy that has accumulated cash value, then yes, you can take cash out before your death.

Because viatical settlements typically pay 40-70% of the policy's face value, if you were to cash in a $150,000 life insurance policy, you'd be looking at receiving anywhere from $60,000-$105,000 in the next few weeks.