Income Taxes |
3 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mar. 31, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Taxes |
INCOME TAXES
The benefit for income taxes was $2,779 and $645 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The estimated 2018 effective tax rate is (58.8%) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared to a 27.0% estimated annual effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017.
The principal reason for the difference between the statutory rate and the estimated annual effective rate for 2018 were the effects of a $3,800 benefit of the 2017 Section 179D deduction, which was extended in February 2018 and treated as a discrete event in the quarter, and the use of investment tax credits to which the Company is entitled from owned plants. The principal reason for the difference between the statutory rate and the estimated annual effective rate for 2017 were the effects of investment tax credits to which the Company is entitled from owned plants.
The investment tax credits and production tax credits to which the Company may be entitled fluctuate from year to year based on the cost of the renewable energy plants the Company places or expects to place in service and production levels at company owned facilities in that year. As part of the Bipartisan Budget Act signed into law on February 9, 2018 the Section 179D deduction for 2017 was retroactively extended. Under current law the Section 179D deduction expired on December 31. 2017.
A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $600 of total gross unrecognized tax benefits. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $80 of total gross unrecognized tax benefits (net of the federal benefit on state amounts) representing the amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would favorably affect the effective income tax rate in any future periods.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “2017 Tax Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The 2017 Tax Act significantly revises the U.S. corporate income tax by, among other things, lowering the statutory corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. The 2017 Tax Act also enhanced and extended through 2026 the option to claim accelerated depreciation deductions on qualified property.
On December 22, 2017, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Legislation. The Company has recognized the provisional tax impacts related to the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and included these amounts in its consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2017, the Company has substantially completed its accounting for the tax effects of the 2017 Tax Act. If revisions are needed as new information becomes available, the final determination of the deemed re-measurement of the Company’s deferred assets and liabilities, the deemed mandatory repatriation or other applicable provisions of the Tax Legislation will be completed as additional information becomes available, but no later than one year from the enactment of the 2017 Tax Act.
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