2.0.0.10 false INCOME TAXES 10901 - Disclosure - INCOME TAXES true false false false 1 usd $ false false Unit1 Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 Unit12 Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 Unit13 Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 5 INCOME TAXES 3 us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureTextBlock us-gaap true na duration string No definition available. false false false false false false false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 <div> <div> <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <div style="margin-top: 12pt; font-size: 10pt;" align="left"><b>9. INCOME TAXES</b> </div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 10pt;" align="left">     Under current Bermuda law, Holdings and its Bermuda subsidiaries are not required to pay taxes in Bermuda on either income or capital gains. Holdings and Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd have received an assurance from the Bermuda Minister of Finance under the Exempted Undertakings Tax Protection Act 1966 of Bermuda, that in the event of any such taxes being imposed, Holdings and Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd will be exempted from such taxes until March 28, 2016. </div></div> <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 10pt;" align="left">     Certain subsidiaries of Holdings file U.S. federal income tax returns and various U.S. state income tax returns, as well as income tax returns in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland and Hong Kong. The following tax years by jurisdiction are open to examination: </div> <div> <table style="font-size: 10pt;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="88%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="5%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td></tr> <tr style="font-size: 8pt;" valign="bottom"> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td style="border-bottom: #000000 1px solid;" nowrap="nowrap" align="center" colspan="2"><b>Fiscal Years</b></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="background: #cceeff;" valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left: 15px; text-indent: -15px;">U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") for the U.S. subsidiaries</div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2006 – 2009</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left: 15px; text-indent: -15px;">Inland Revenue for the U.K. branches</div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2008 – 2009</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="background: #cceeff;" valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left: 15px; text-indent: -15px;">Irish Revenue Commissioners for the Irish subsidiaries</div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2005 – 2009</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left: 15px; text-indent: -15px;">Swiss Federal Tax Administration for the Swiss branch</div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td nowrap="nowrap" align="right">2008 – 2009</td> <td> </td></tr> <tr style="background: #cceeff;" valign="bottom"> <td> <div style="margin-left: 15px; text-indent: -15px;">Inland Revenue Department for the Hong Kong branch</div></td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td align="right">2009</td> <td> </td></tr></table></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 10pt;" align="left">     To the best of the Company's knowledge, there are no examinations pending by the Inland Revenue or the Irish Revenue Commissioners. The IRS is currently completing an examination of the 2006 tax returns of Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. ("Darwin"). </div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; font-size: 10pt;" align="left">     Management has deemed all material tax positions to have a greater than 50% likelihood of being sustained based on technical merits if challenged. The Company does not expect any material unrecognized tax benefits within 12 months of January 2010. </div></div></div> </div> 9. INCOME TAXES      Under current Bermuda law, Holdings and its Bermuda subsidiaries are not required to pay taxes in Bermuda on false false false Description containing the entire income tax disclosure. Examples include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. This element may be used as a single block of text to encapsulate the entire disclosure including data and tables. 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