This Bulletin is directed to all companies submitting premium tax and/or annual renewal fees to the Department (Filers). In 2011, the Department began using the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) system known as OPTins, an online premium tax filing system. OPTins offers users the ability to submit filings, fees, and payments electronically. In April 2014, the Department notified Filers via Bulletin 206 that use of OPTins would be mandatory beginning January 1, 2015. Due to issues and concerns raised by Filers with the required use of OPTins, the Department postponed that effective date via Bulletin 211. At this point, the Department has determined the benefits of using OPTins – reduced costs compared to paper filings and the elimination of mail errors and associated penalties – outweigh any lingering issues or concerns. Bulletin 206 and Bulletin 211 are hereby withdrawn. This Bulletin provides notice to Filers of the new deadlines for mandatory electronic filing requirements.

Effective April 1, 2022, all Filers must submit their annual premium tax, quarterly estimated tax, and annual renewal fees and payments electronically through OPTins. The Department will not accept paper filings after April 1, 2022, and Filers that attempt to submit a paper filing may face late penalties, interest, and other consequences for failure to comply with the new filing requirement.

The Department believes the use of OPTins will provide benefits to Filers as well as the Department. OPTins does not require Filers to pay any licensing fees or purchase special software. Filers will also save the costs associated with paper filings. Furthermore, use of OPTins should eliminate misplaced filings and/or payments and associated late payment penalties. In addition, OPTins contains a feature that will allow Filers to schedule filings to be submitted automatically on a designated date.

Instructions for submitting tax and fee filings are available at: http://www.optins.org. Filers must contact the OPTins Marketing Team at optinsmktg@naic.org or call (816) 783-8787 for setup of an OPTins account if they do not already have one. Once registered and set up, the Filer will be able to log in, upload filing forms, and submit payment online via ACH debit or credit. If a Filer uses ACH debit, payment is released to the Department with the filing. If the Filer uses ACH credit, there is a delay before the Department receives the filing and payment, because the submission is not released until the NAIC receives the funds for the filing. Thus, to ensure compliance with statutory deadlines, a Filer should use ACH debit or submit the filing well in advance of the deadline.

Any company may request from the Commissioner an exemption from this mandate by showing good cause. Questions regarding this Bulletin should be directed to Debra Graves, Premium Tax Auditor, at (317) 232-1993 or dgraves@idoi.in.gov, or Annette Gunter, Supervisor of Financial Services Operations, at (317) 232-2428 or agunter@idoi.in.gov.

INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE

_____________________________________

Amy L. Beard

Commissioner, Indiana Department of Insurance

DIN: 20220316-IR-760220092NRA

Composed: Apr 18,2024 6:33:53AM EDT

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