Life Insurance Proceeds - Cashing In Policy
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Per IRS Publication 525 Taxable and Nontaxable Income, page 22:

Surrender of policy for cash. If you surrender a life insurance policy for cash, you must include in income any proceeds that are more than the cost of the life insurance policy. In most cases, your cost (or investment in the contract)is the total of premiums that you paid for the life insurance policy, less any refunded premiums, rebates, dividends, or unrepaid loans that weren’t included in your income.

You should receive a Form 1099-R showing the total proceeds and the taxable part. Report these amounts on lines 5a and 5b of Form 1040or 1040-SR.


To report the total proceeds and taxable portion, go to our Form 1099-R - Entering Distributions from Retirement Plans FAQ.


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