XML 25 R14.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.5.0.2
Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
INCOME TAXES

Under Swiss law, a resident company is subject to income tax at the federal, cantonal and communal levels that is levied on net income. Income attributable to permanent establishments or real estate located abroad is excluded from the Swiss tax base. Allied World Switzerland is a holding company and, therefore, is exempt from cantonal and communal income tax. As a result, Allied World Switzerland is subject to Swiss income tax only at the federal level. Allied World Switzerland is a resident of the Canton of Zug and, as such, is subject to an annual cantonal and communal capital tax on its taxable equity. Allied World Switzerland has a Swiss operating company resident in the Canton of Zug. The operating company is subject to federal, cantonal and communal income tax and to annual cantonal and communal capital tax.

Under current Bermuda law, Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd (“Allied World Bermuda”) and its Bermuda subsidiaries are not required to pay taxes in Bermuda on either income or capital gains. Allied World Bermuda 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, Allied World Bermuda and Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd will be exempted until March 2035.

Certain subsidiaries of Allied World Switzerland file U.S. federal income tax returns and various U.S. state income tax returns, as well as income tax returns in Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) is currently conducting an audit of the the 2014 tax return of the U.S. services company. As the audit has just started, it is too early to determine if there will be any findings from the audit. During the quarter ended June 30, 2016, the IRS completed its audit of the 2012 consolidated tax return of the Company's U.S. subsidiaries. There were no findings as a result of the audit. To the best of the Company’s knowledge, there are no other examinations pending by any other tax authority.

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 June 30, 2016.