Change in Submission of Annual/Quarterly Premium Taxes, Annual Fees, Fire Department Dues Payments, and Annual Premium Tax Filings

Last Updated: February 27, 2025 Date: February 27, 2025 To: Companies licensed in Wisconsin as Fraternal Societies, Health Maintenance Organizations, Life, Accident, and Health Insurers, Limited Health Service Organizations, Property and Casualty Insurers, Title Insurers, Town Mutual Insurers, and Domestic Surplus Lines insurers From: Nathan Houdek, Commissioner of Insurance Subject: Change in Submission of Annual/Quarterly Premium Taxes, Annual Fees, Fire Department Dues Payments, and Annual Premium Tax Filings Bulletin20250227OPTins.pdf The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has implemented OPT ins , a product of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), for insurers filing and paying Wisconsin premium taxes, fire department dues, and fees. Companies paying taxes and fees required under Wis. Stats. § 76.60, 76.63, 76.65, 76.66, 76.67, 601.31, 601.55, and 601.93, must use OPT ins to pay premium taxes beginning with the first 2025 quarterly estimated tax payment due April 15, 2025. What does this mean for an insurer? An insurer must establish an OPT ins account so it can make its tax payments via OPT ins . If an insurer already has an OPT ins account, it should be set to make payments through OPT ins . Also, Wisconsin premium tax forms will only be available to download via OPT ins and complete starting with filing year 2025, due March 1, 2026. An insurer will log into OPT ins and go through the three-step filing wizard. Step two will allow the insurer to download and save the applicable form. From there the insurer will complete all fields within the Excel document and upload it into OPT ins . On step three, the non-refundable $17.50 NAIC transaction fee will be included with the premium tax amount due to Wisconsin. Please do not mail any checks or lockbox payments to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. What are the next steps if an insurer doesn't have an OPT ins account? If an insurer has not created an OPT ins account, the steps to implement an account and submit premium tax payments and filings is very simple. Go to www.optins.org and scroll down to Implementation Forms, select the paperwork that applies to the insurer. It is important to register early because setting up a new account takes 7-10 business days. Contact the OPT ins Marketing Team at optinsmktg@naic.org or call (816) 783-8787 if you have any questions regarding the implementation process. Any questions or comments relating to the use of OPT ins for payments and submission of filings as instructed above should be directed to the OCI Division of Financial Regulation at OCIFinancial@wisconsin.gov .