Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Net Provision for Income Tax

The provision (benefit) for income taxes during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2019, 2018, and 2017 was as follows:

	Spire									Spire Missouri									Spire Alabama
	2019			2018			2017			2019			2018			2017			2019		2018		2017
Federal:
Current	$	0.6		$	—		$	0.1		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	—	$	—	$	—
Deferred		27.4			(22.7	)		67.7			11.5			(26.1	)		42.0			16.3		81.5		31.6
Investment tax credits		(0.2	)		(0.2	)		(0.2	)		(0.2	)		(0.2	)		(0.2	)		—		—		—
State and local:
Current		2.1			2.2			0.5			—			—			—			—		—		—
Deferred		4.6			(5.8	)		9.5			2.0			(6.3	)		5.7			4.2		0.1		4.2
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	34.5		$	(26.5	)	$	77.6		$	13.3		$	(32.6	)	$	47.5		$	20.5	$	81.6	$	35.8

Effective Income Tax Rate Variation from Stated Tax Rate

The effective income tax rate varied from the federal statutory income tax rate for each year due to the following:

	Spire									Spire Missouri									Spire Alabama
	2019			2018			2017			2019			2018			2017			2019			2018			2017
Federal income tax statutory rate		21.0	%		24.5	%		35.0	%		21.0	%		24.5	%		35.0	%		21.0	%		24.5	%		35.0	%
State and local income taxes, net    of federal income tax benefits		3.6			3.4			2.8			2.6			3.4			2.8			4.1			3.8			2.8
Certain expenses capitalized on    books and deducted on tax return		(3.8	)		(2.3	)		(2.3	)		(6.5	)		(4.6	)		(3.5	)		—			—			—
Taxes related to prior years		0.2			(0.4	)		(0.9	)		0.1			(0.7	)		(1.4	)		—			—			—
Tax law changes		—			(35.9	)		—			—			(50.3	)		—			—			70.0			—
Amortization of excess deferred taxes		(3.8	)		(1.8	)		—			(6.6	)		(3.6	)		—			—			—			—
Other items – net *		(1.4	)		(1.6	)		(2.2	)		(0.3	)		(2.5	)		(3.3	)		0.2			0.1			0.3
Effective income tax rate		15.8	%		(14.1	)%		32.4	%		10.3	%		(33.8	)%		29.6	%		25.3	%		98.4	%		38.1	%

* Other consists primarily of property adjustments.

Significant Items in Net Deferred Tax Liability

The significant items comprising the net deferred tax liability or asset as of September 30 were as follows:

	Spire						Spire Missouri						Spire Alabama
	2019			2018			2019			2018			2019			2018
Deferred tax assets:
Reserves not currently deductible	$	31.4		$	25.9		$	21.2		$	20.0		$	6.2		$	5.3
Pension and other postretirement benefits		102.7			75.6			78.7			71.9			—			—
Goodwill		—			—			—			—			116.8			129.6
Operating losses		162.2			162.7			51.1			65.2			94.2			86.0
Regulatory amount due to customers, net		46.5			41.8			42.7			38.0			—			—
Other		20.0			8.2			1.2			0.5			—			—
Deferred tax assets		362.8			314.2			194.9			195.6			217.2			220.9
Less: Valuation allowance		(1.8	)		(1.4	)		(1.8	)		(1.4	)		—			—
Total deferred tax assets		361.0			312.8			193.1			194.2			217.2			220.9
Deferred tax liabilities:
Relating to property		(562.9	)		(518.3	)		(395.1	)		(372.6	)		(129.3	)		(111.9	)
Regulatory pension and other postretirement benefits		(135.9	)		(117.1	)		(111.7	)		(113.4	)		(2.0	)		(1.8	)
Other**		(113.6	)		(113.2	)		(50.9	)		(69.2	)		(4.6	)		(5.4	)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(812.4	)		(748.6	)		(557.7	)		(555.2	)		(135.9	)		(119.1	)
Net deferred tax (liability) asset	$	(451.4	)	$	(435.8	)	$	(364.6	)	$	(361.0	)	$	81.3		$	101.8

** For Spire, Other consists primarily of goodwill-related liabilities.

. The total adjustments recorded, before reduction for amounts returned to customers, for the year ended September 30, 2018, were as follows:

	Spire			Spire Missouri			Spire Alabama
Adjustment to deferred tax liabilities	$	(318.3	)	$	(285.3	)	$	(61.0	)
Adjustment to deferred income tax expense		(75.0	)		(57.0	)		58.8
Adjustment to regulatory assets		(75.9	)		(78.1	)		2.2
Adjustment to regulatory liabilities		167.4			150.2			—

Unrecognized Tax Benefit Reconciliation

The following table presents a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of unrecognized tax benefits:

	Spire									Spire Missouri
	2019			2018			2017			2019			2018			2017
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of year	$	8.1		$	11.0		$	10.0		$	7.8		$	10.7		$	9.7
Decrease related to tax law changes		—			(4.0	)		—			—			(4.0	)		—
Increases related to tax positions taken in current year		4.5			1.2			2.4			4.5			1.1			2.4
Reductions related to tax positions taken in prior year		(1.9	)		—			—			(1.9	)		—			—
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statute of limitations		—			(0.1	)		(1.4	)		—			—			(1.4	)
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of year	$	10.7		$	8.1		$	11.0		$	10.4		$	7.8		$	10.7