Income Tax Matters

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



	Quarter Ended
	March 31,
	2018		2017
Domestic	$	5.6	$	18.3
Foreign	0.3		0.2
Total	$	5.9	$	18.5

The income tax provision for the quarters ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017 was $5.9 million and $18.5 million, respectively, reflecting an effective tax rate of 18.6% and 34.0%, respectively. The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 was primarily due to: (i) a decrease of $1.8 million (or 5.6% of taxable income) for the recognition of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation and (ii) a decrease of $0.8 million (or 2.7% of taxable income) to the valuation allowance for certain state net operating losses, partially offset by (iii) an increase of $0.6 million (or 1.9% of taxable income) related to non-deductible compensation expense.

The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 was due to: (i) a decrease of $1.6 million (or 2.9% of taxable income) for the recognition of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation and (ii) a decrease of $0.4 million (or 0.8% of taxable income) to the valuation allowance for certain state net operating losses.

Our gross unrecognized benefits relating to uncertain tax positions were $1.5 million at both March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, of which, $0.4 million would be recorded through our income tax provision and thus impact the effective tax rate at both March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 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.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("The Tax Act") was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act reduces the US federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, requires companies to pay a one-time transition tax on earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred and creates new taxes on certain foreign sourced earnings. We are applying the guidance in SAB 118 when accounting for the enactment-date effects of the Tax Act. Our accounting for the Tax Act is incomplete, as noted at year-end. However, we were able to reasonably estimate certain effects and, therefore, recorded provisional adjustments at December 31, 2017 associated with the reduction of the US federal corporate tax rate, the deemed repatriation transition tax and IRC Section 162(m). During the quarter ended March 31, 2018, we recognized no adjustments to the provisional amounts recorded at December 31, 2017, and have not completed our accounting for all of the tax effects of the Tax Act. We are awaiting further guidance from U.S. federal and state regulatory bodies with regards to the final accounting and reporting of these items in the several jurisdictions where we file tax returns. In all cases, we will continue to make and refine our calculations as additional analysis is completed. Our estimates may also be affected as we gain a more thorough understanding of the tax law.