Income Tax Matters

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

The provision for income taxes for each period presented consisted of the following (in millions of dollars):



	Quarter Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
	2017		2016		2017		2016
Domestic	$	1.9	$	15.5	$	20.1	$	30.4
Foreign	0.3		0.2		0.6		0.4
Total	$	2.2	$	15.7	$	20.7	$	30.8

The income tax provision for the quarters ended June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2016 was $2.2 million and $15.7 million, respectively, reflecting an effective tax rate of 31.7% and 37.7%, respectively. The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended June 30, 2017 was due to: (i) a decrease of $0.1 million for the recognition of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation, resulting in a 1.5% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate; (ii) a decrease of $0.1 million to the valuation allowance for certain state net operating losses, resulting in a 1.4% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate; and (iii) a decrease of $0.2 million related to unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties, resulting in a 3.0% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate.

There was no material difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.

The income tax provision for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2016 was $20.7 million and $30.8 million, respectively, reflecting an effective tax rate of 33.8% and 37.1%, respectively. The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was due to: (i) a decrease of $1.7 million for the recognition of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation, resulting in a 2.7% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate; (ii) a decrease of $0.5 million to the valuation allowance for certain state net operating losses, resulting in a 0.9% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate; and (iii) a decrease of $0.2 million related to unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties, resulting in a 0.3% decrease to the blended statutory tax rate.

There was no material difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

Our gross unrecognized benefits relating to uncertain tax positions were $1.5 million and $1.8 million at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, of which, $0.4 million and $0.7 million would be recorded through our income tax provision and thus impact the effective tax rate at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, if the gross unrecognized tax benefits were to be recognized.

We do not expect our gross unrecognized tax benefits to significantly change within the next 12 months.