The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is starting to weigh in on which health insurance company bosses are subject to the new "excess compensation" tax rules.
The IRS has issued a batch of guidance interpreting Section 162(m)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code, a tax law created by Section 9014 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), in IRS Notice 2011-02.
PPACA limits the ability of "covered health insurance providers" to deduct compensation 
paid to ""applicable individuals."
For tax years beginning between Dec. 31, 2009, and Jan. 1, 2013, a "covered health insurance provider" will include any provider of major medical coverage, according to the authors of an analysis of the section posted by the New York office of Dewey & LeBoeuf L.L.P.
For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012, the term also will include any entity that provides health coverage if the entity gets at least 25% of its premium revenue from selling "minimum essential" coverage, and the tax code language suggests that it could include providers of vision, dental, critical illness or hospital indemnity coverage, the Dewey & LeBoeuf team notes.
"Applicable" individual could include any individual who is an officer, director, or employee of a coverage provider, or someone who provides services for a covered provider.
