INCOME TAXES |
3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2018 | |
INCOME TAXES | NOTE 20 - INCOME TAXES
Income tax expense includes Puerto Rico and USVI income taxes as well as applicable U.S. federal and state taxes. The Corporation is subject to Puerto Rico income tax on its income from all sources. As a Puerto Rico corporation, First BanCorp. is treated as a foreign corporation for U.S. and USVI income tax purposes and is generally subject to U.S. and USVI income tax only on its income from sources within the U.S. and USVI or income effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business in those regions. Any such tax paid in the U.S. and USVI is also creditable against the Corporation’s Puerto Rico tax liability, subject to certain conditions and limitations. Under the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011, as amended (the “2011 PR Code”), the Corporation and its subsidiaries are treated as separate taxable entities and are generally not entitled to file consolidated tax returns and, thus, the Corporation is generally not entitled to utilize losses from one subsidiary to offset gains in another subsidiary. Accordingly, in order to obtain a tax benefit from a net operating loss (“NOL”), a particular subsidiary must be able to demonstrate sufficient taxable income within the applicable NOL carry-forward period. The 2011 PR Code allows entities organized as limited liability companies to perform an election to become a non-taxable “pass-through” entity and utilize losses to offset income from other “pass-through” entities, subject to certain limitations, with the remaining net income passing-through to its partner entities. The 2011 PR Code also provides a dividend received deduction of 100% on dividends received from “controlled” subsidiaries subject to taxation in Puerto Rico and 85% on dividends received from other taxable domestic corporations. On March 1, 2017, the Corporation completed the applicable regulatory filings to change the tax status of its subsidiary, First Federal Finance, from a taxable corporation to a non-taxable “pass-through” entity. This election allows the Corporation to realize tax benefits of its deferred tax assets associated with pass-through ordinary net operating losses available at the banking subsidiary, FirstBank, which were subject to a full valuation allowance as of December 31, 2016, against now pass-through ordinary income from this profitable subsidiary. On March 1, 2017, the Corporation also completed the applicable regulatory filings to change the tax status of its subsidiary, FirstBank Insurance, from a taxable corporation to a non-taxable “pass-through” entity. This election allows the Corporation to offset pass-through income projected to be earned by FirstBank Insurance with net operating losses available at the Holding Company level. The Corporation has maintained an effective tax rate lower than the maximum statutory rate mainly by investing in government obligations and mortgage-backed securities exempt from U.S. and Puerto Rico income taxes and by doing business through an International Banking Entity (“IBE”) unit of the Bank, and through the Bank’s subsidiary, FirstBank Overseas Corporation, whose interest income and gain on sales is exempt from Puerto Rico income taxation. The IBE and FirstBank Overseas Corporation were created under the International Banking Entity Act of Puerto Rico, which provides for total Puerto Rico tax exemption on net income derived by IBEs operating in Puerto Rico on the specific activities identified in the IBE Act. An IBE that operates as a unit of a bank pays income taxes at the corporate standard rates to the extent that the IBE’s net income exceeds 20% of the bank’s total net taxable income. For the first quarter of 2018, the Corporation recorded a income tax expense of $7.8 million, compared to an income tax benefit of $8.1 million for the same period in 2017. The variance was mostly attributable to a $13.2 million tax benefit recorded in the first quarter of 2017 as a result of the above discussed change in tax status of certain subsidiaries from taxable corporations to limited liability companies that elected to be treated as partnerships for income tax purposes in Puerto Rico, higher pre-tax earnings in the first quarter of 2018, and a higher estimated effective tax rate for 2018. For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, the Corporation calculated the provision for income taxes by applying the estimated annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to ordinary income or loss. In the computation of the consolidated worldwide annual estimated effective tax rate, ASC 740-270 requires the exclusion of legal entities with pre-tax losses from which a tax benefit cannot be recognized. The Corporation’s estimated annual effective tax rate in the first quarter of 2018, excluding entities from which a tax benefit cannot be recognized and discrete items, was 27% compared to 24% for the first quarter of 2017. The estimated annual effective tax rate including all entities for 2018 was 19% (23% excluding discrete items) compared to 13% for the first quarter of 2017 (25% excluding discrete items, primarily the tax benefit resulting from the previously mentioned change in the tax status of the two subsidiaries).
The Corporation’s net deferred tax asset amounted to $289.3 million as of March 31, 2018, net of a valuation allowance of $186.1 million, and management concluded, based upon the assessment of all positive and negative evidence, that it is more likely than not that the Corporation will generate sufficient taxable income within the applicable NOL carry-forward periods to realize such amount. The net deferred tax asset of the Corporation’s banking subsidiary, FirstBank, amounted to $289.2 million as of March 31, 2018, net of a valuation allowance of $150.0 million, compared to net deferred tax asset of $294.7 million, net of a valuation allowance of $150.7 million, as of December 31, 2017. During the third quarter of 2017, the Corporation completed a formal ownership change analysis within the meaning of Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (“Section 382”) covering a comprehensive period, and concluded that an ownership change occurred during such period. Section 382 limits the ability to utilize U.S. and USVI NOLs for income tax purposes at such jurisdictions following an event of an ownership change. The Section 382 limitation could result in higher U.S. and USVI liabilities in the future than we would incur in the absence of such limitation. As of March 31, 2018, and as a result of the Section 382 limitation, the Corporation incurred an income tax expense of approximately $1.6 million related to its U.S. operations. The limitation did not affect the USVI operations in the first quarter of 2018. Prospectively, the Corporation expects that it will be able to mitigate the adverse effects associated with the Section 382 limitation as any such tax paid in the U.S. or USVI could be creditable against Puerto Rico tax liabilities or taken as deduction against taxable income. However, our ability to reduce our Puerto Rico tax liability through such a credit or deduction depends on our tax profile at each annual taxable period, which is dependent on various factors. As of March 31, 2018, the Corporation did not have Unrecognized Tax Benefits (“UTBs”) recorded on its books. The Corporation classifies all interest and penalties, if any, related to tax uncertainties as income tax expense. Audit periods remain open for review until the statute of limitations has passed. The statute of limitations under the 2011 PR Code is four years; the statute of limitations for U.S. and USVI income tax purposes is three years after a tax return is due or filed, whichever is later, for each. The completion of an audit by the taxing authorities or the expiration of the statute of limitations for a given audit period could result in an adjustment to the Corporation’s liability for income taxes. Any such adjustment could be material to the results of operations for any given quarterly or annual period based, in part, upon the results of operations for the given period. For U.S. and USVI income tax purposes, all tax years subsequent to 2012 remain open to examination. For Puerto Rico tax purposes, all tax years subsequent to 2012 remain open to examination. On December 22, 2017, the United States president signed H.R.1, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts, which includes an overhaul of individual, business and international taxes and has affected our branch operations in the U.S. and the USVI. The bill includes measures reducing corporate taxes from 35% to 21%, a repeal of the corporate alternative minimum tax regime, changes to business deductions and NOLs, a 15.5% tax on mandatory repatriation of liquid assets, 10% tax on base erosion payments, and a minimum 10.5% tax on inclusion of global intangible low-tax income by U.S. shareholders, among other significant changes. The main provisions affecting our operations in the U.S. and the USVI in the first quarter for 2018 include: the change in tax rate to 21%, the limitation to the amount certain financial institutions may deduct for premiums paid to the FDIC, and changes in permanent differences, such as the meals and entertainment deductions. Other significant provisions, such as the base erosion and anti-abuse tax, do not affect the Corporation’s U.S. and USVI branch operations since these operations’ receipts do not exceed the annual threshold of U.S. effectively connected gross receipts. |