When small to mid-sized business owners explore alternative risk management strategies, they frequently find themselves evaluating captive insurance requirements to see if their company qualifies. For decades, a persistent myth has circulated that captives are reserved exclusively for multi-national conglomerates, massive shipping fleets, or heavy construction firms. This misconception causes highly disciplined, mid-market business owners […]

Most businesses purchase insurance from a commercial carrier and give up control of the premiums they pay. A captive insurance company changes that arrangement by allowing a business to form or participate in an insurance company that covers selected risks. The captive collects premiums, pays covered claims, and retains funds that aren’t needed for losses […]

Businesses often think about insurance in terms of the standard policies available from commercial carriers. Those policies provide essential protection, but they’re generally designed for broad groups of companies. When they don’t fully reflect one organization’s operations, loss history, emerging exposures, or tolerance for risk, captive insurance coverage can offer a more tailored approach. A […]

A captive insurance company is a licensed insurance company owned by the business, business owner, or group of businesses it insures. Instead of sending all insurance premiums to third-party commercial carriers, a company can use a captive to insure selected risks through an insurance company it owns or controls. For business owners, CEOs, CFOs, CPAs, […]

The recent memorandum decision in Kadau v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2025-81) provides a clear example of how the Tax Court currently analyzes micro-captive arrangements. Importantly, the opinion does not create new law; rather, it applies the well-established captive-insurance framework developed in Avrahami, Reserve Mechanical, Caylor, and Syzygy. We have previously distinguished how our clients do […]