Representativ
e Kelly Hancock , a Tarrant County Republican, has filed House Bill 1849 that will eliminate a tax imposed by the Texas Department of Insurance to Texas life insurers that now serves no purpose.
In 2007, the state of Texas will collect $8.9 million in fees for actuary services that will not be performed by the state’s insurance regulatory agency. Historically, the fees have been collected in order to check domestic life insurers’ valuation reserve calculations. The original valuations were performed by hand until several ago, before computers made it possible to more efficiently compute the reserve figures.
“Every year, TDI collects upwards of $8.9 million for a service already performed by the companies and certified to by independent actuaries, ” said Hancock. Despite the fact that there are virtually no requests for TDI to check these numbers, the fees are still collected.
People buying life insurance are not only looking out for their own well-being, but in some cases those who survive primary breadwinners might otherwise become dependent on government programs. So from all standpoints, Rep. Hancock is to be applauded for filing this legislation to get rid of this antiquated and counterproductive tax.
