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STATUTORY ACCOUNTING AND DIVIDEND RESTRICTIONS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Insurance [Abstract]  
STATUTORY ACCOUNTING AND DIVIDEND RESTRICTIONS STATUTORY ACCOUNTING AND DIVIDEND RESTRICTIONS
The Company's insurance subsidiaries are required to report their results of operations and financial position to insurance regulatory authorities on the basis of statutory accounting practices prescribed or permitted by such authorities.

Aflac Japan must report its results of operations and financial position to the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) on a Japanese regulatory accounting basis as prescribed by the FSA. Japanese regulatory accounting practices differ in many respects from U.S. GAAP. Under Japanese regulatory accounting practices, policy acquisition costs are expensed immediately; policy benefit and claim reserving methods and assumptions are different; premiums are recognized on a cash basis; different consolidation criteria apply to VIEs; reinsurance is recognized on a different basis; and investments can have a separate accounting classification and treatment referred to as policy reserve matching bonds (PRM). Capital and surplus of Aflac Japan, based on Japanese regulatory accounting practices, was $9.8 billion at December 31, 2021, compared with $9.0 billion at December 31, 2020.

Aflac, CAIC and TOIC report statutory financial statements that are prepared on the basis of accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the Nebraska Department of Insurance (NDOI). The NDOI recognizes statutory accounting principles and practices prescribed or permitted by the state of Nebraska for determining and reporting the financial condition and results of operations of an insurance company, and for determining a company's solvency under Nebraska insurance law. 

Aflac New York reports statutory financial statements that are prepared on the basis of accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The NYDFS recognizes statutory accounting principles and practices prescribed or permitted by the state of New York for determining and reporting the financial condition and results of operations of an insurance company, and for determining a company's solvency under New York insurance law.

Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP) as detailed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Accounting Practices and Procedures Manual have been adopted by both the state of Nebraska and the state of New York as a component of those prescribed or permitted practices. Statutory accounting practices primarily differ from U.S. GAAP by charging policy acquisition costs to expense as incurred, establishing future policy benefit liabilities using different actuarial assumptions as well as valuing investments and certain assets and accounting for deferred taxes on a different basis. Additionally, the Director of the NDOI and the Superintendent of the NYDFS each have the right to permit other specific practices which deviate from prescribed practices. Aflac, CAIC, TOIC and Aflac New York had no permitted practices as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

The table below represents statutory capital and surplus based on statutory accounting practices for the Company’s U.S. life insurance subsidiaries as of December 31.
(In millions)20212020
Aflac$2,627 $2,088 
CAIC244 271 
TOIC57 61 
Aflac New York360 352 

As of December 31, 2021, the capital and surplus for each of the Company's U.S. life insurance subsidiaries exceeded the required company action level capital and surplus.
The table below represents net income (loss) based on statutory accounting practices for the Company’s U.S. life insurance subsidiaries as of December 31.
(In millions)202120202019
Aflac$1,146 $872 $864 
CAIC(30)1 (16)
TOIC(27)(24)(2)
Aflac New York83 75 75 

The Parent Company depends on its subsidiaries for cash flow, primarily in the form of dividends and management fees. Consolidated retained earnings in the accompanying financial statements largely represent the undistributed earnings of the Company's insurance subsidiaries. Amounts available for dividends, management fees and other payments to the Parent Company by its insurance subsidiaries may fluctuate due to different accounting methods required by regulatory authorities. These payments are also subject to various regulatory restrictions and approvals related to safeguarding the interests of insurance policyholders. The Company's U.S. life insurance entities must maintain adequate risk-based capital (RBC) for U.S. regulatory authorities, and Aflac Japan must maintain adequate solvency margins for Japanese regulatory authorities.

The maximum amount of dividends that can be paid to the Parent Company by Aflac, CAIC and TOIC without prior approval of Nebraska's director of insurance is the greater of the net income from operations, which excludes net investment gains, for the previous year determined under statutory accounting principles, or 10% of statutory capital and surplus as of the previous year-end. In 2021, Aflac declared dividends of $654 million. Dividends declared by Aflac during 2022 in excess of $1.1 billion would require such approval. CAIC and TOIC did not declare dividends during 2021.

From time to time, Aflac New York pays dividends to Aflac, the parent company of Aflac New York. Aflac New York may not pay dividends to Aflac without the prior approval of the NYDFS. Aflac New York declared dividends of $75 million in 2021, which were authorized by the NYDFS.

Aflac Japan is required to meet certain financial criteria as governed by Japanese corporate law in order to provide dividends to the Parent Company. Under these criteria, dividend capacity at Aflac Japan is basically defined as retained earnings excluding capital reserves, which represent equity generated by capital profits that are statutorily required in Japan, less net after-tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities based on the previous fiscal year-end. Profits remitted by Aflac Japan to the Parent Company were as follows for the years ended December 31:
  
In DollarsIn Yen
(In millions of dollars and billions of yen)202120202019202120202019
Profit remittances$2,138 $1,215 $2,070 ¥236.7 ¥129.8 ¥225.2