American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida and American Bankers Life Assurance Company of Florida v. United States

The sole issue presented is whether contracts of reinsurance issued by foreign insurers to reinsure policies issued by domestic insurance companies within the United States are taxable under 26 U.S.C.A. § 4371(3) of the 1954 Code. The Insurer-appellants concede that such contracts would be taxable under § 1804 of the Revenue Code of 1939, but they argue here that the reeodification in 1954 was more than that and actually brought about a material change of substance. The case turns finally on two little words, “taxable” or “describe,” since the problem resolves itself into a question of…