Is life insurance premiums deductible if beneficiary is a church? Does ownership matter?

Question

Is life insurance premiums deductible if beneficiary is a church? Does ownership matter?

Answer 1

You may want to read this article about charity owned life insurance

http://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/article/2005/02...

Answer 2

I agree with the other posters that a trusted professional tax adviser is the way to go with any tax questions.  You don't want to get burned.  

For what it's worth, I don't believe that your premiums would be deductible.  If you want the tax deduction then just give the money to the church.  If you want to leave the church a large sum of money when you die, then just save your money and name the church in your will.

Answer 3

You should really talk to an accountant or qualified financial planner about your question.  Ownership does matter because if you name a church beneficiary and gift the premiums but then later change the beneficiary (because you are still the owner), you didn't absolutely give the premiums away.  

Like I said, a fee-only financial planner, accountant, or even an estate attorney should help put you on the right path once they know your goals.

Answer 4

No, the beneficiary is irrelevant.

The only time ownership matters, is if the policy owner is a corporation, then the premiums the corp pays for the insurance are subtracted from their gross income, to calculate net income, which is what businesses pay income tax on.

Answer 5

That is a very good question.  Hopefully, you will get a tax expert to give you the correct answer.  They might possibly be since the beneficiary is a church.