Advisory Fees Withdrawn From Annuity Not Treated as Distributions to the Owner, Nov. 27, 2019

A recent IRS letter ruling found that investment advisory fees paid periodically from an annuity contract case value should not be treated as amounts received by the contract owner. The annuities in this case were nonqualified deferred annuities. As part of the annuity, the product owner would receive investment advice from a licensed advisor on how to allocate the case value of the contract. The fees were to be negotiated in an arm's length transaction, but were not to exceed 1.5 percent of the annuity cash value. The fees were paid directly to the advisor (in other words, the owner would never receive the amounts deducted from the annuity value). The IRS found the fees "integral" to operation of the annuity contract based on the fact that the owner would receive ongoing investment advice. Further, the fees did not compensate the advisor for services related to any other asset (other than the annuity). The IRS concluded that the fees were an expense of the contract, not distributions to the owner. For more information on the tax treatment of nonqualified annuities, visit Tax Facts Online.