Note 4 - Income Taxes

The income tax benefit recorded for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, and 2016, differs from the amounts that would be provided by applying the statutory United States federal income tax rate to income or loss before income taxes primarily due to the effect of state income taxes, changes in valuation allowances, excess tax benefits and deficiencies from share-based payment awards, and accumulated impacts of other smaller permanent differences. The quarterly rate can also be affected by the proportional impacts of forecasted net income or loss as of each period end presented.

The provision for income taxes for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, and 2016, consisted of the following:



	For the Three Months Ended June 30,						For the Six Months Ended June 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016
	(in thousands)
Current portion of income tax benefit (expense):
Federal	$	4,607		$	—		$	(2,832	)	$	—
State	2,439			(77		)	(1,403		)	(241		)
Deferred portion of income tax benefit	64,015			95,975			30,790			291,014
Income tax benefit	$	71,061		$	95,898		$	26,555		$	290,773
Effective tax rate	37.2		%	36.2		%	36.9		%	36.0		%

On a year-to-date basis, a change in the Company’s effective tax rate between reporting periods will generally reflect differences in its estimated highest marginal state tax rate due to changes in the composition of income or loss from Company activities among multiple state tax jurisdictions. As a result of adopting ASU 2016-09 on January 1, 2017, excess tax benefits and deficiencies from share-based payment awards are expected to impact the Company’s effective tax rate between periods. As discussed in Note 7 - Compensation Plans, subsequent to June 30, 2017, the Company settled various RSU grants and the 2014 PSU grant. As a result of these share-based award settlements, the Company expects to record an excess tax deficiency in the third quarter of 2017. Cumulative effects of state tax rate changes are reflected in the period legislation is enacted.

The change in the current portion of income tax benefit (expense) and the effective tax rate relates to the effect of anticipated utilization of carryover net operating losses, deferred tax expenses, and carryover tax credits. The Company is generally no longer subject to United States federal or state income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2013. Its 2003 to 2005 tax years have been reopened for net operating loss carryback claims and are currently under examination by the Internal Revenue Service.