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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]
Income Taxes

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Company recorded a tax provision of $8.6 million and $10.2 million, respectively. The amounts reflect income tax expense related to the respective periods' pre-tax earnings as well as a $9.3 million benefit for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 from the reversal of our remaining state deferred tax asset valuation allowance. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, the Company recorded a tax benefit of $111.6 million and $111.1 million, respectively. The amounts reflect income tax expense related to the respective periods' pre-tax earnings as well as a $111.6 million benefit for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 from the reversal of a majority of our deferred tax asset valuation allowance. The effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2014 was 38.7%. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 was 20.4%. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 is not reflective of our historical tax rate or our effective tax rate in future periods due to our state deferred tax asset valuation allowance reversals in 2014. The effective tax rate for the same periods in 2013 was not meaningful due to the effects of the deferred tax asset valuation allowance and federal and state tax net operating losses (“NOLs”), and there is no correlation between the effective tax rate and the amount of pre-tax income for those periods.
In accordance with ASC 740-10, Income Taxes, we determine our net deferred tax assets by taxing jurisdiction. We evaluate our net deferred tax assets, including the benefit from NOLs, by jurisdiction to determine if a valuation allowance is required. Companies must assess whether a valuation allowance should be established based on the consideration of all available evidence using a “more likely than not” standard with significant weight being given to evidence that can be objectively verified. This assessment considers, among other matters, the nature, frequency and severity of cumulative losses, forecasts of future profitability, the length of statutory carryforward periods, our experience with operating losses and our experience of utilizing tax credit carryforwards and tax planning alternatives. We recorded a full valuation allowance against all of our deferred tax assets during 2008 due to economic conditions and the weight of negative evidence at that time.
During the year ended December 31, 2013, we reversed the valuation allowance against our federal deferred tax assets and our deferred tax assets in most of our state jurisdictions because the weight of the positive evidence in those jurisdictions exceeded that of the negative evidence. However, at December 31, 2013, we retained a valuation allowance for certain states which have shorter carryforward periods for utilization of NOL carryovers or lower current earnings relative to their NOL carryforward balance. In 2014, we determined that it is more likely than not that our state NOL carryforwards should be able to be realized, and we reversed the remaining state deferred tax valuation allowance of $9.3 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2014.
At September 30, 2014, the Company had federal NOL carryforwards of approximately $53.3 million and federal credit carryforwards of $6.5 million. Federal NOL carryforwards may be carried forward up to 20 years to offset future taxable income. Our federal carryforward benefits begin to expire in 2028. The Company had $13.6 million of state NOL carryforwards at September 30, 2014. State NOLs may be carried forward from 5 to 20 years, depending on the tax jurisdiction, with $7.0 million expiring between 2014 and 2027 and $6.6 million expiring between 2028 and 2032, absent sufficient state taxable income.