Changes To Note

• The corporation must file a disclosure statement for each reportable tax shelter transaction in which it participated, directly or indirectly, if the transaction affects the corporation's Federal income tax liability. See Tax shelter disclosure statement on page 5 for more details.
• Section 611 of The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act (JCWAA) of 2002 provides a zero rate for both the differential earnings rate and recomputed differential earnings rate for a life insurance company's tax years beginning in 2001, 2002, or 2003.
• Schedule C, Differential Earnings Amount, has been deleted as a result of section 611 of JCWAA.
• Schedule E, Policyholder Dividends, has been eliminated as a result of section 611 of JCWAA. Lines that are unrelated to the differential earnings amount have been merged into Schedule F, Increase (Decrease) in Reserves and Company/Policyholder Share Percentage.

Photographs of Missing Children

The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in instructions on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Unresolved Tax Issues

If the corporation has attempted to deal with an IRS problem unsuccessfully, it should contact the Taxpayer Advocate. The Taxpayer Advocate independently represents the corporation's interests and concerns within the IRS by protecting its rights and resolving problems that have not been fixed through normal channels.

While Taxpayer Advocates cannot change the tax law or make a technical tax decision, they can clear up problems that resulted from previous contacts and ensure that the corporation's case is given a complete and impartial review.

The corporation's assigned personal advocate will listen to its point of view and will work with the corporation to address its concerns. The corporation can expect the advocate to provide:

• A fresh look at a new or on-going problem.
• Timely acknowledgment.
• The name and phone number of the individual assigned to its case.
• Updates on progress.
• Timeframes for action.
• Speedy resolution.
• Courteous service.

When contacting the Taxpayer Advocate, the corporation should provide the following information:

• The corporation's name, address, and employer identification number (EIN).
• The name and telephone number of an authorized contact person and the hours he or she can be reached.
• The type of tax return and year(s) involved.
• A detailed description of the problem.
• Previous attempts to solve the problem and the office that had been contacted.
• A description of the hardship the corporation is facing (if applicable).

The corporation may contact a Taxpayer Advocate by calling (toll free) 1-877-777-4778. Persons who have access to TTY/TDD equipment may call 1-800-829-4059 and ask for Taxpayer Advocate assistance. If the corporation prefers, it may call, write, or fax the Taxpayer Advocate office in its area. See Pub. 1546, The Taxpayer Advocate Service of the IRS, for a list of addresses and fax numbers.

How To Get Forms and Publications

Personal computer

You can access the IRS Web Site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at www.irs.gov to:

• Order IRS products on-line.
• Download forms, instructions, and publications.
• See answers to frequently asked tax questions.
• Search publications on-line by topic or keyword.
• Send us comments or request help by e-mail.
• Sign up to receive local and national tax news by e-mail.

You can also reach us using file transfer protocol at ftp.irs.gov.

CD-ROM

Order Pub. 1796, Federal Tax Products on CD-ROM, and get:

• Current year forms, instructions, and publications.
• Prior year forms, instructions, and publications.
• Frequently requested tax forms that may be filled in electronically, printed out for submission, and saved for recordkeeping.
• The Internal Revenue Bulletin.

Buy the CD-ROM on the Internet at www.irs.gov/cdorders from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) for $22 (no handling fee), or call 1-877-CDFORMS (1-877-233-6767) toll free to buy the CD-ROM for $22 (plus a $5 handling fee).

By Phone and in Person

You can order forms and publications 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676). You can also get most forms and publications at your local IRS office.

General Instructions

Purpose of Form

Use Form 1120-L, U.S. Life Insurance Company Income Tax Return, to report income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits, and to figure the income tax liability of life insurance companies.

Who Must File

Every domestic life insurance company and every foreign corporation that would qualify as a life insurance company if it were a U.S. corporation must file Form 1120-L. This includes organizations described in section 501(m)(1) that provide commercial-type life insurance.

Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance business

Mutual savings banks conducting life insurance business and meeting the requirements of section 594 are subject to an alternative tax consisting of:

• A partial tax computed on Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, on the taxable income of the bank excluding the life insurance department and
• A partial tax on the taxable income computed on Form 1120-L of the life insurance department.

Enter the combined tax on line 3 of Schedule J, Form 1120. File Form 1120 and attach Form 1120-L as a schedule (and identify it as such) or attach a statement showing the computation of the taxable income of the life insurance department (including all relevant information that would be reported on Form 1120-L).

Foreign life insurance companies

A foreign life insurance company that sells a U.S. real property interest must file Form 1120-L and Schedule D (Form 1120) to report the sale. Gain or loss from the sale of a U.S. real property interest is considered effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. business, even though the foreign life insurance company does not carry on any insurance business in the United States and is not otherwise required to file a U.S. income tax return.

Other insurance companies

Insurance companies, other than life insurance companies, should file Form 1120-PC, U.S. Property and Casualty Insurance Company Income Tax Return. A burial or funeral benefit insurance company that directly manufactures funeral supplies or performs funeral services is taxable under section 831 and should file Form 1120-PC.

Definitions

An insurance company means any corporation if more than half of its business during the tax year is from the issuance of insurance or annuity contracts or the reinsuring of risks underwritten by insurance companies.

A life insurance company is an insurance company in the business of issuing life insurance and annuity contracts either separately or combined with health and accident insurance, or noncancelable contracts of health and accident insurance that meet the reserves test in section 816(a). Guaranteed renewable life, health, and accident insurance that the corporation cannot cancel but reserves the right to adjust premium rates by classes, according to experience under the kind of policy involved, are treated as noncancelable.

The reserves test requires that life insurance reserves, as defined in section 816(b), plus unearned premiums and unpaid losses (whether or not ascertained) on noncancelable life, health, or accident policies not included in life insurance reserves must make up more than 50% of total reserves as defined in section 816(c). When determining whether the reserves test has been met:

1. Life insurance reserves and total reserves must each be reduced by an amount equal to the mean of the aggregates, at the beginning and end of the tax year, of the policy loans outstanding with respect to contracts for which life insurance reserves are maintained;
2. Amounts set aside and held at interest to satisfy obligations under contracts which do not contain permanent guarantees with respect to life, accident, or health contingencies must not be included in either life insurance reserves (section 816(c)(1)) or other reserves required by law (section 816(c)(3)); and
3. Deficiency reserves must not be included in either life insurance reserves or total reserves.

When To File

Generally, a corporation must file its income tax return by the 15th day of the 3rd month after the end of the tax year. A new corporation filing a short-period return must generally file by the 15th day of the 3rd month after the short period ends. A corporation that has dissolved must generally file by the 15th day of the 3rd month after it dissolved. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the corporation may file on the next business day.

Extension.   File Form 7004, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File Corporation Income Tax Return, to request a 6-month extension of time to file.

Private delivery services.   Corporations can use certain private delivery services designated by the IRS to meet the timely mailing as timely filing/paying rule for tax returns and payments. The most recent list of designated private delivery services was published by the IRS in September 2002. The list includes only the following:

• Airborne Express (Airborne): Overnight Air Express Service, Next Afternoon Service, Second Day Service.
• DHL Worldwide Express (DHL): DHL Same Day Service, DHL USA Overnight.
• Federal Express (FedEx): FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx 2Day, FedEx International Priority, and FedEx International First.
• United Parcel Service (UPS): UPS Next Day Air, UPS Next Day Air Saver, UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 2nd Day Air A.M., UPS Worldwide Express Plus, and UPS Worldwide Express.

The private delivery service can tell you how to get written proof of the mailing date.

Who Must Sign

The return must be signed and dated by:

• The president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, chief accounting officer or
• Any other corporate officer (such as tax officer) authorized to sign.

Receivers, trustees, or assignees must sign and date any return filed on behalf of a corporation.

If an employee of the corporation completes Form 1120-L, the paid preparer's space should remain blank. In addition, anyone who prepares Form 1120-L but does not charge the corporation should not complete that section. Generally, anyone who is paid to prepare the return must sign it and fill in the Paid Preparer's Use Only area.

The paid preparer must complete the required preparer information and:

• Sign the return, by hand, in the space provided for the preparer's signature (signature stamps and labels are not acceptable).
• Give a copy of the return to the taxpayer.

Paid Preparer Authorization

If the corporation wants to allow the IRS to discuss its 2002 tax return with the paid preparer who signed it, check the Yes box in the signature area of the return. This authorization applies only to the individual whose signature appears in the Paid Preparer's Use Only section of the corporation's return. It does not apply to the firm, if any, shown in that section.

If the Yes box is checked, the corporation is authorizing the IRS to call the paid preparer to answer any questions that may arise during the processing of its return. The corporation is also authorizing the paid preparer to:

• Give the IRS any information that is missing from the return,
• Call the IRS for information about the processing of the return or the status of any related refund or payment(s), and
• Respond to certain IRS notices that the corporation has shared with the preparer about math errors, offsets, and return preparation. The notices will not be sent to the preparer.

The corporation is not authorizing the paid preparer to receive any refund check, bind the corporation to anything (including any additional tax liability), or otherwise represent the corporation before the IRS. If the corporation wants to expand the paid preparer's authorization, see Pub. 947, Practice Before the IRS and Power of Attorney.

The authorization cannot be revoked. However, the authorization will automatically end no later than the due date (without regard to extensions) for filing the corporation's 2002 tax return.

Where To File

File the corporation's return at the applicable IRS address listed below.

If the corporation's principal business office or agency is located in:	And the total assets at the end of the tax year (Form 1120-L, Schedule L, Part I, line 6, column (b)) are:	Use the following Internal Revenue Service Center address:
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin	Less than $10 million $10 million or more	Cincinnati, OH 45999-0012 Ogden, UT 84201-0012
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming	Any amount	Ogden, UT 84201-0012
A foreign country or U.S. possession (or the corporation is claiming the possessions corporation tax credit under sections 30A and 936)	Any amount	Philadelphia, PA 19255-0012

A group of corporations located in more than one service center area will often keep all the books and records at the principal office of the managing corporation. In this case, the tax returns of the corporations may be filed with the service center for the area in which the principal office of the managing corporation is located.

Other Forms, Returns, and Statements That May Be Required

The life insurance company may have to file some of the following forms. See the form for more information.

• Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements. Use these forms to report wages, tips, other compensation, withheld income taxes, social security, and Medicare taxes for employees.
• Form 720, Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return. Use this form to report and pay the luxury tax on passenger vehicles, environmental taxes, communications and air transportation taxes, fuel taxes, manufacturers taxes, ship passenger taxes, and certain other excise taxes.
• Form 851, Affiliations Schedule. The parent corporation of an affiliation group of corporations must attach this form to its consolidated return. If this is the first year one or more subsidiaries are being included in a consolidated return, also see Form 1122, Authorization and Consent of Subsidiary Corporation To Be Included in a Consolidated Income Tax Return, on page 4.
• Form 926, Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation. Use this form to report certain transfers to foreign corporations under section 6038B.
• Form 940 or Form 940-EZ, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return. The corporation may be liable for FUTA tax and may have to file Form 940 or Form 940-EZ if either:
  1. Paid wages of $1,500 or more in any calendar quarter in 2001 or 2002 or
  2. Had one or more employees who worked for the corporation for at least some part of a day in any 20 or more different weeks in 2001 or 20 or more different weeks in 2002.
• Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return. Employers must file this form to report income tax withheld, and employer and employee social security and Medicare taxes. Also, see Trust fund recovery penalty on page 7.
• Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax. File Form 945 to report income tax withholding from nonpayroll distributions or payments, including pensions, annuities, IRAs, gambling winnings and backup withholding.
  See Trust fund recovery penalty on page 7.
• Form 966, Corporate Dissolution or Liquidation. Use this form to report the adoption of a resolution or plan to dissolve the corporation or liquidate any of its stock.
• Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons, and
• Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. Use these forms to report and send withheld tax on payments or distributions made to nonresident alien individuals, foreign partnerships, or foreign corporations to the extent these payments constitute gross income from sources within the United States (see sections 861 through 865).
• Form 1042-T, Annual Summary and Transmittal of Forms 1042-S. Use Form 1042-T to transmit paper Forms 1042-S to the IRS.
  Also, see Pub. 515, Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities.
• Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns.
• Form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement. Use this form to report the receipt from any individual of $600 or more of mortgage interest (including points) in the course of the corporation's trade or business and reimbursements of overpaid interest.
• Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement. Use this form to report the receipt of $600 or more of student loan interest in the course of the corporation's trade or business.
• Forms 1099. Use these information returns to report the following.
  1. Form 1099-A, Acquisition or Abandonment of Secured Property.
  2. Form 1099-B, Proceeds From Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions.
  3. Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt.
  4. Form 1099-DIV, Dividends and Distributions.
  5. Form 1099-INT, Interest Income.
  6. Form 1099-LTC, Long-Term Care and Accelerated Death Benefits.
  7. Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income. See this form to report payments: to certain fishing boat crew members; to providers of health and medical services; of rent or royalties; nonemployee compensation, etc.
     Note.   Every corporation must file Form 1099-MISC if it makes payments of rents, commissions, or other fixed or determinable income (see section 6041) totaling $600 or more to any one person in the course of its trade or business during the calendar year.
  8. Form 1099-MSA, Distributions From an Archer MSA or Medicare+Choice MSA.
  9. Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount.
  10. Form 1099-PATR, Taxable Distributions Received From Cooperatives.
  11. Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.
  12. Form 1099-S, Proceeds From Real Estate Transactions.
  Also use these returns to report amounts received as a nominee for another person.
• Form 1122, Authorization and Consent of Subsidiary Corporation To Be Included in a Consolidated Income Tax Return. File this form if this is the first year a consolidated return is being filed.
• Form 5452, Corporate Report of Nondividend Distributions. Use this form to report nondividend distributions.
• Form 5471, Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations. This form is required if the corporation controls a foreign corporation; acquires, disposes of, or owns 10% or more in value or vote of the outstanding stock of a foreign corporation; or had control of a foreign corporation for an uninterrupted period of at least 30 days during the annual accounting period of the foreign corporation. See Question 4 of Schedule N (Form 1120).
• Form 5472, Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business. This form is filed if the corporation is 25% or more foreign-owned. See Question 8 on page 19.
• Form 5498, IRA and Coverdell ESA Contribution Information. Use this form to report contributions (including rollover contributions) to any IRA, including a SEP, SIMPLE, or Roth IRA, or a Coverdell ESA, and to report Roth conversions, IRA recharacterizations and the fair market value of the account.
• Form 5498-MSA, Archer MSA or Medicare+Choice MSA Information. Use this form to report contributions to an Archer MSA and the fair market value of an Archer MSA or Medicare+Choice MSA.
  For more information, see the general and specific Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, and 5498.
• Form 5713, International Boycott Report. Corporations that had operations in, or related to, certain boycotting countries file Form 5713.
• Form 8023, Elections Under Section 338 for Corporations Making Qualified Stock Purchases. Corporations file this form to make elections under section 338 for a target corporation if the purchasing corporation has made a qualified stock purchase of the target corporation.
• Form 8264, Application for Registration of a Tax Shelter. Tax shelter organizers use this form to receive a tax shelter registration number from the IRS.
• Form 8271, Investor Reporting of Tax Shelter Registration Number. Corporations which have acquired an interest in a tax shelter that is required to be registered, use this form to report the tax shelter's registration number. Attach Form 8271 to any tax return (including an application for tentative refund (Form 1139) or an amended return) on which a deduction, credit, loss, or other tax benefit attributable to a tax shelter is taken or any income attributable to a tax shelter is reported.
• Form 8275, Disclosure Statement, and Form 8275-R, Regulation Disclosure Statement. Disclose items or positions taken on a tax return that are not otherwise adequately disclosed on a tax return or that are contrary to Treasury regulations (to avoid parts of the accuracy-related penalty or certain preparer penalties).
• Form 8281, Information Return for Publicly Offered Original Issue Discount Instruments. Use this form to report the issuance of public offerings of debt instruments (obligations).
• Form 8288, U.S. Withholding Tax Return for Dispositions by Foreign Persons of U.S. Real Property Interests, and Form 8288-A, Statement of Withholding on Dispositions by Foreign Persons of U.S. Real Property Interests. Use these forms to report and transmit withheld tax on the purchase of a U.S. real property interest from a foreign person. See section 1445 and the related regulations for more information.
• Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business. Use this form to report the receipt of more than $10,000 in cash or foreign currency in one transaction or a series of related transactions.
• Form 8302, Direct Deposit of Tax Refund of $1 Million or More. This form must be filed to request a direct deposit of a tax refund of $1 million or more.
• Form 8594, Asset Acquisition Statement Under Section 1060. Corporations file this form to report the purchase or sale of a group of assets that constitute a trade or business if goodwill or going concern value could attach to the assets and if the buyer's basis is determined only by the amount paid for the assets.
• Form 8810, Corporate Passive Activity Loss and Credit Limitations. Closely held corporations must use this form to compute the passive activity loss and credit allowed under section 469.
• Form 8816, Special Loss Discount Account and Special Estimated Tax Payments for Insurance Companies. This form must be filed by any insurance company that elects to take an additional deduction under section 847.
• Form 8842, Election To Use Different Annualization Periods for Corporate Estimated Tax. Corporations use Form 8842 for each year they want to elect one of the annualization periods in section 6655(e)(2) to figure estimated tax payments under the annualized income installment method.
• Form 8849, Claim for Refund of Excise Taxes. Corporations use this form to claim a refund of certain excise taxes.
• Form 8865, Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships. A domestic corporation may have to file Form 8865 if it:
  1. Controlled a foreign partnership (i.e., owned more than a 50% direct or indirect interest in the partnership).
  2. Owned at least a 10% direct or indirect interest in a foreign partnership while U.S. persons controlled that partnership.
  3. Had an acquisition, disposition, or change in proportional interest of a foreign partnership that:
     1. Increased its direct interest to at least 10% or reduced its direct interest of at least 10% to less than 10%.
     2. Changed its direct interest by at least a 10% interest.
  4. Contributed property to a foreign partnership in exchange for a partnership interest if:
     1. Immediately after the contribution, the corporation owned, directly or indirectly, at least a 10% interest in the foreign partnership or
     2. The fair market value of the property the corporation contributed to the foreign partnership, when added to other contributions of property made to the foreign partnership during the preceding 12-month period, exceeds $100,000.
        Also, the domestic corporation may have to file Form 8865 to report certain dispositions by a foreign partnership of property it previously contributed to that partnership if it was a partner at the time of the disposition. For more details, including penalties for failing to file Form 8865, see Form 8865 and its separate instructions.
• Form 8883, Asset Allocation Statement Under Section 338. Corporations file this form to report information about transactions involving the deemed sale of corporate assets under section 338.

First | Next

Instructions Index | 2002 Tax Help Archives | Tax Help Archives | Home