In today's edition of Speaking of Settlements I am joined by Jack Meligan, the President of SPI and former President of the SSP, to discuss the up coming hearings with Treasury on February 23rd on the clarifications regarding IRC section 104(a)(2). Mark Wahlstrom

These hearings are one of the first real reviews of the foundational tax code upon which the structured settlement industry is based, that being the exclusion from taxation of injuries caused as a result of personal physical injury. These hearings were originally scheduled to discuss expansions of that definition and modifications of the language, primarily to make clear the tax status of cases such as sexual abuse, wrongful imprisonment, illness caused by a hostile work environment, etc.

However, now an attempt is being made to raise the issue of 468B single claimant cases as part of the hearing, prompting a scramble by the various associations and interested parties to respond to the questions raised by this request.

Jack Meligan discusses his perspective on the always contentious single claimant 468B trust issue as part of this podcast, as well as raising awareness of the hearings and the issues to be discussed. Regardless of where you are on the politics and implications of this, you will want to watch the outcome of these hearings as they have a substantial impact on our profession, the definitions of what is a taxable damage situation and whether there will ever be clarity on the topic of 468B trusts.