-39- reserves, see Utah Med. Ins. Association v. Commissioner, supra, it is not conclusive. As stated in Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Commissioner, 96 T.C. 61, 110 (1991), revd. on other grounds 972 F.2d 858 (7th Cir. 1992): The objectives of State regulation * * * are not identical to the objectives of Federal income taxation. State insurance regulators are concerned with the solvency of the insurer. McCoach v. Insurance Company of North America, 244 U.S. 585, 589 (1917). * * * In contrast, Federal tax statutes are concerned with the determination of taxable income on an annual basis. Burnet v. Sanford & Brooks Co., 282 U.S. 359, 365 (1931). The record does not establish that the State regulators would have been concerned with excesses in petitioner’s reserves. Thus, their silence on this point is not necessarily significant. Given the clear directive of the regulations regarding the Commissioner’s discretion to review the amount of deducted loss reserves, and the holding in Hanover Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 260 (1977), upholding the validity of these regulations, there is no merit to the argument that the Commissioner’s review function is supplanted by the certifying actuaries or the State regulators. A taxpayer's determination and reporting of unpaid losses and loss expenses to a State insurance commission does not limit the Commissioner’s obligation to enforce the regulations and to examine and adjust, as necessary, the amounts claimed for Federal income tax purposes. See Home Mut. Ins. Co. v. Commissioner, 639 F.2d 333, 339-340 (7th Cir. 1980), affg. inPage: Previous 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011