Eiduk Tax & Wealth
Promoter structures library · 2026-08-26
Micro-Captive Insurance
Classification B, legitimate, commonly abused. Real tax law with a real benefit. Promoters break it.
Sold as: "captive insurance", "your own insurance company", "831(b) plan", "enterprise risk captive", "risk retention program", "self-insurance for the risks nobody will write"
A captive is an insurance company. If it never pays a claim, never underwrites a risk, and its premiums were set by asking you how much you wanted to deduct, it is not an insurance company, and two courts of appeals have now said so.
The pitch
Deduct up to the annual Sec. 831(b) ceiling (2,850,000 dollars for 2025) of premiums at the operating company under Sec. 162, receive them tax-free at the captive under Sec. 831(b), and later extract at qualified dividend or capital gain rates. Asset protection and estate freeze thrown in.
What it costs you if it is wrong
The premium deduction goes away. In Patel the court sustained 40 percent penalties under Sec. 6662(i) for the nondisclosed years and 20 percent for the disclosed one, and because the case turned on Sec. 7701(o), Sec. 6664(c)(2) switches the reasonable cause defense off entirely. Form 8886 is separate: Sec. 6707A reaches a failure to file it whether or not the deduction is ultimately sustained.
Red flags
- The manager also owns the risk pool
- The actuary asks how much you want to deduct
- No claims in five years
- The pitch leads with the deduction rather than the risk
Questions to ask the person selling this
- 1Who owns the risk pool, and are you or your firm affiliated with it?
- 2Show me the actuarial report. What loss data set the premium?
- 3How many claims has this program paid in the last five years, and what is the loss ratio?
- 4Which of the Rev. Rul. 2002-89, 2002-90, or 2002-91 safe harbors does this satisfy?
- 5Will Form 8886 be filed, and who prepares it?
- 6Who wrote the tax opinion, and are they paid by the captive manager?