Mainstream CPAs, tax attorneys, A-rated insurance carriers, the IRS itself, and household-name financial-planning publications have all published on IRC §453 Structured Installment Sales. Below, direct quotes, citations. Verify everything.
When a Fortune 500 life carrier puts its three top in-house tax-and-ERISA attorneys on the byline of a white paper explaining a structure to their distribution channel, it's because the structure is real, it's compliant, and they want to write the annuity premium. Bring the citations below to your CPA.
Structured installment sales evolved as an outgrowth of IRC section 453, which governs the selling of qualifying appreciated assets using the installment method.
The gain is taxed as it's realized over time, rather than all at once, which can significantly affect your total tax bill.
Kitces.com is the most-cited continuing-education resource for CFPs, RIAs, and fiduciary advisors in the country. Their position: the §453 Structured Installment Sale uses a regulated insurance carrier as the obligor, that's why it works. The "Deferred Sales Trust" version shifts the credit risk onto a private trustee with no carrier behind it, that's why the IRS scrutinizes it.
Under IRC Sec. 453, capital gains on the sale of assets, such as privately held businesses where the payments are spread out over a period of 2 or more years, are deferred until the years when the payments are actually received.
For owners of businesses and other assets, a Structured Installment Sale works similarly to a DST in that it uses a third party to facilitate the installment agreement between the buyer and the seller, except that the third party uses the sales proceeds to fund an annuity.
Maintains an extensive archive of carrier white papers and IRS rulings on §453, distributed to attorneys and CPAs nationally. The structured-settlement industry has been issuing IRS-blessed installment annuity contracts since the 1982 Periodic Payment Settlement Act, SIS is the same product mechanically, just applied to a real-estate or business sale instead of a personal-injury settlement.
Publishes detailed how-to-close-escrow guides for attorneys and CPAs on the §453 structured sale: how the addendum is incorporated into the Purchase & Sale agreement, how the buyer's payment obligation gets assigned to the assignment company at closing, and how the funding goes directly to the life-insurance carrier issuing the annuity.
Read on seracapital.com →Walks through the practical closing-side mechanics: how SIS integrates into the normal escrow timeline, who signs which document, and what the assignment company actually does. Useful reference for escrow officers and listing agents seeing this for the first time.
Read on jcrsettlements.com →Publishes ongoing commentary on §453 placements for the structured-settlement industry. Holds CPCU, MSSC (Master's-level Settlement Consultant), and RICP (Retirement Income Certified Professional) designations.
Multi-article series on §453 Structured Installment Sales for California sellers, including a direct head-to-head comparison with Deferred Sales Trusts and a California-specific analysis of how the SIS interacts with the 13.3% state top bracket plus the 1% Mental Health Services Tax over $1M. Burns argues the SIS is the IRS-blessed, audit-defensible alternative to the DST.
Read on jamesburnslaw.com →Detailed legal walkthrough of how §453 installment treatment works, the §453A interest-charge threshold ($5M of outstanding installment obligations), and the IRS revenue procedures that bless the structure (including Rev. Proc. 2005-26).
Read: IRC §453 explained →Institutional analysis positioning §453 installment sales as the right tool when 1031 isn't available, for example, on a business sale, on a primary residence above the §121 cap, or on real estate the seller doesn't want to redeploy into more real estate.
Read on jtcgroup.com →Every claim on this site reduces to one of the following. Read them yourself.
The structure is real, the citations are public, and the math is verifiable. If you'd like to talk through whether SIS fits your specific sale, with your CPA on the line, I'm here.
Talk to Hans, 213-340-2018
A plain-English guide for sellers: how a structured installment sale defers the tax when you sell a business, practice, or property — the math, the alternatives, and how to know if your deal fits.
Drop your info — instant PDF download + within 1 business day Hans will email a preliminary read on which structure fits your deal. No retainer. Carrier compensates the broker — not you.
📞 Hans Goldstein · 213-290-4977 · CA Insurance License #4322192 · Independent §453 specialist · Goldstein & Co. LLC
