Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

6. Income Taxes

For the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $83.2 million and $46.6 million of income tax expense and had an effective tax rate of 24.9% and 25.0%, respectively. The decrease in our effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily due to the favorable state rate impact of a subsidiary merger during the three months ended September 30, 2021 compared to September 30, 2020.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $203.7 million and $129.9 million of income tax expense and had an effective tax rate of 24.6% and 27.8%, respectively. The decrease in our effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 was primarily due to the nondeductible goodwill impairment charge associated with our Paper reporting unit recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2020 with no corresponding charge during the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

Our current effective tax rate may differ from the federal statutory income tax rate of 21.0% due primarily to the effect of state and local income taxes. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, cash paid for taxes, net of refunds received, was $168.1 million and $65.0 million, respectively. The increase in cash tax payments between the periods is primarily due to higher 2021 taxable income.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, there were no significant changes to our uncertain tax positions. For more information, see Note 7, Income Taxes, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K.