Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-4-201 (2026)
Companies subject to tax - "Insurance company" defined
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) Every domestic or foreign insurance company writing life, fire, marine, fidelity, surety, casualty, liability, or other forms of insurance shall pay directly to the commissioner the taxes as provided for in this part.
- (b) As used in this part, "insurance company" means any insurance, fidelity or surety company, including any corporation, company, partnership, association, society, order, fraternal or otherwise, individual or aggregation of individuals engaging in, or proposing or attempting to engage in, any kind of insurance or surety business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships and corporations.
Acts 1945, ch. 3, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 1248.41 (Williams, § 1248.169); impl. am. Acts 1971, ch. 137, § 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed), § 56-405.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases, 1992–2016 · leading case: Saturn Corp. v. Johnson, 197 S.W.3d 273 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006).
Saturn Corp. v. Johnson, 197 S.W.3d 273 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006). “*275 Instead, subsection (b) and (c) of section 217 were intended by the legislature to apply only to insurance companies as that term is defined in Tennessee Code Annotated section 56-4-201. The controversy being one solely of statutory construction, both parties filed…”
Tennessee Farmers Assurance Co. v. Loren L. Chumley, 197 S.W.3d 767 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006). “The amount of the premium taxes collected under the provisions of §§ 56-4-201 — 56-4-214 shall be a single credit against the sum total of the taxes imposed by the Franchise Tax Law, compiled in title 67, chapter 4, part 9 and by the Excise Tax law, compiled in title 67, chapter…”
Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. State, Comm'r of Com. & Ins., 840 S.W.2d 355 (Tenn. 1992). “Plaintiffs, as insurance companies engaged in writing insurance in Tennessee, are subject to premium taxes imposed by T.C.A. § 56-4-201, et seq. The tax returns and payments in dispute were due to be filed on or before March 1, 1990, pursuant to T.”
Saturn Corp. v. Johnson, 236 S.W.3d 156 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2007). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 56-4-201, et seq. Accordingly, Saturn pays inter alia four percent on the premium it would otherwise be paying if it carried workers’ compensation insurance, plus Saturn pays a surcharge of four tenths of one percent on the deemed premium.”
Chuck's Package Store v. City of Morristown (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016). “In that case, a health maintenance organization filed an action with the Tennessee Claims Commission to seek a refund of penalty and interest paid to the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the late payment of insurance premium taxes, required under Tenn. Code Ann. §…”
Tennessee Indep. Colleges & Universities Ass'n Benefit Consortium, Inc. v. Tennessee Dep't of Com. & Ins. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2010). “4 The tax is referred to by the parties as the “MEWA Tax,” even though the tax imposed was a tax applicable to insurance companies as defined at § 56-4-201. In this opinion we shall maintain the reference to the MEWA tax.”
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