BFH ruling on tax liability in the case of extended direct insurance policies

Published on 02.08.2006

One employee had agreed with the employer to take out direct insurance. The contracts had a fixed term with no provision for changes. Later, there is an agreement between the employer and the employee that the period of active service in the company should be extended by three years. At the instigation of the employee, the employer then asked the insurance agent to adjust the direct insurance contracts.In the present case, the existing contracts were extended by three years.The Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) decided in its ruling of 8 July 2005 (Ref. VIII R 71/05) that the extension of the original contracts is to be treated as a new contract. The BFH justifies this by stating that it depends on whether essential features (e.g. term, sum insured, insurance premium, premium payment period) have changed. In the end, a new contract is only assumed with regard to the contract amendments ? As a result, the employee has to pay tax (pro rata) on the interest in full under income from capital assets.