6. Income Taxes	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Income Taxes
Income Taxes	Income tax expense for the second quarter of 2018 was $2.5 million compared to income tax expense of $519,000 for the same period in the prior year. The effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2018 was 22 percent, compared with 5 percent for the second quarter of 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted in December 2017, reduced the corporate federal income tax rate in the United States from 35 percent to 21 percent effective for us on January 1, 2018. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also ended the domestic production activities deduction under Section 199 which previously helped lower our effective tax rate by 3 percentage points. The benefit we received from the lower tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was not as large as the excess tax benefits we received in the second quarter of 2017 of $3.0 million from the exercise of stock options together with the benefit from the Section 199 deduction. We continue to assess the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and whether recorded amounts may be affected due to changes in our interpretations and assumptions, as well as regulatory guidance that may be issued.

6. Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Income tax expense for the second quarter of 2018 was $2.5 million compared to income tax expense of $519,000 for the same period in the prior year. The effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2018 was 22 percent, compared with 5 percent for the second quarter of 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted in December 2017, reduced the corporate federal income tax rate in the United States from 35 percent to 21 percent effective for us on January 1, 2018. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act also ended the domestic production activities deduction under Section 199 which previously helped lower our effective tax rate by 3 percentage points. The benefit we received from the lower tax rate under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was not as large as the excess tax benefits we received in the second quarter of 2017 of $3.0 million from the exercise of stock options together with the benefit from the Section 199 deduction.

We continue to assess the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and whether recorded amounts may be affected due to changes in our interpretations and assumptions, as well as regulatory guidance that may be issued.