Financial Devastation for Clients in 419 Plans

Some of you may remember the bad old days of using 419 welfare benefit plans to help business owners (and doctors specifically) take massive  deductions where the money ultimately went into cash value life insurance. These plans were sold as a benefit plans, but they were really discriminatory deferred compensation plans in sheep’s clothing. For a while, there was a legitimate use of 419 plans with life insurance, but it didn’t take long for the industry to come crashing down due to the abuses that took place.

Unfortunately, for many, the fallout from those who used 419 plans is still happening today. In the Jerald W. White v. Commissioner (April 2012) case, a doctor who took large deductions for 419 plan contributions lost his audit and ended up not only paying back taxes but also interest and penalties.

What’s interesting about this case besides the reminder that bad tax structures can be financially devastating for clients is the discussion about back taxes and penalties. The defendant tried to get out of back taxes and penalties by stating that the deduction was based on reasonable cause and reliance on substantial authority for such deductions. The court pointed out that at no time did the doctor seek out independent counsel on the authority, and that the doctor relied on the promises of interested parties even though it was clear that the promises seemed too good to be true.

As an expert witness Lance Wallachs side has never lost a case. He has won for both plaintiffs and defendants, but not on the same case, that is a joke. That is not a joke to most people that went into the bad 419 or 412i plans. They were audited, and then many tried to sue. When they used a lawyer who was learning on the job they would lose the lawsuit.

IRS to Audit Sea Nine VEBA Participating Employers

The IRS may be auditing many more participating employers in the coming months.

In recent months, I have received phone calls from participants in the Sea Nine VEBA and have learned that the IRS may be auditing many more participating employers in the coming months. To better assist current Sea Nine clients and those that are now or may be under audit in the future, my associates who are CPAs, tax attys and former IRS employees
will continue to help with the Sea Nine VEBA victims and others in 419 412i captive insurance and section 79 scams and answer the following:

• What is the IRS’s position with respect to the Sea Nine VEBA,419 captive insurance and  section 79 scams?
• What will be the likely result of my audit?
• What if I don't agree with my audit results?
• What are other participants doing with respect to the audits?
• Will the IRS impose interest and penalties?
• What is a “listed transaction” ?
• What is Form 8886, and what are the penalties for failing to file Form 8886?
• Will I be responsible even if I relied on my tax advisor?
• What recourse do I have against those that promoted and sold the Sea Nine VEBA?

IRS Put 419 Plans and VEBA Plans on Top of its Hit List

There are some administrators still promoting 419 plans. It defies logic to me that sales people will sell something they know or should know will not hold up under IRS scrutiny just so they can sell cash value life insurance. Most of the rest of the 419 sales people are now selling captive insurance and section 79 scams that the IRS is just starting to audit. But badk to the 419 plan.Back in the day (1996–2000), 419 welfare benefit plans used to be all the rage as a way for profitable business owners to reduce their taxes and build a tax-favorable nest egg under the cover of an “employee benefit plan.”

With an ambiguous tax code and some favorable tax court rulings, promoters of WPBs became emboldened and far too high profile in the late 1990s. This was amplified by the life insurance industry's internal marketing of WBPs because they were funded mainly with cash value life insurance.

Without fully explaining how these plans worked, I will simply state that an employer could try to take deductions of $25,000–$300,000+ where all of the money would go into a WBP and into a CVL insurance policy where it could grow tax free for years.

Depending on how aggressive the third-party administrator of these plans were, clients were told the money would either come out and be taxable when in retirement while some administrators even touted that business owners could get the money out tax free (which in my opinion was total nonsense, but that’s how they were sold).

The IRS steps in

Because of the aggressive marketing of these plans, the IRS put it on the top of its hit list. 419A(f)5 and A(f)6 plans, 419(e)3 plans as well as VEBA plans (which are also WPBs) all got hammered by the IRS in 2007 when it issued three revenue rulings. WBPs were also put on the tax transaction list.

U.S. Attorney goes after 419 plan promoter

One 419 plan promoter who has been around since the 1990s just had a complaint filed against him, his spouse and several related companies. It’s a 43-page complaint with request for a permanent injunction barring him and several companies from dealing with these plans. To read the complaint, click on the following link:

Be careful if it seems to good to be true. Be careful if an insurance agent, or worse, your accountant is pushing a captive insurance of section 79 scam. Many people that used to push 419 plans are now pushing new scams. Not all 419 plans were bad. Not all captives are bad. I have not seen a good section 79 plan.