Note 14 - Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

14. Income Taxes

Our overall effective income tax rates were 26.6% and 26.8% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively, and 16.6% and 19.3% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively. The rates for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 resulted in income tax expense of $19.7 million and $34.8 million, respectively, compared to income tax expense of $12.7 million and $24.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively. The year-over-year increases in our effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 were due to benefits from energy tax credits of $6.8 million and $8.0 million, respectively, which reduced our respective 2018 tax rates. It is currently uncertain as to the extent, if any, that energy tax credits will impact our 2019 results, and therefore no benefit has been recorded for 2019.

At June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 we had deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowances and deferred tax liabilities, of $29.4 million and $37.2 million, respectively. The valuation allowances were primarily related to various state net operating loss carryforwards where realization is more uncertain at this time due to the limited carryforward periods coupled with minimal operating activity that exists in certain states.