4.	Income Taxes

Except to the extent noted below, the circumstances set forth in Note 6 to the financial statements included in SPS' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012 appropriately represent, in all material respects, the current status of other income tax matters, and are incorporated herein by reference.

Federal Audit — SPS is a member of the Xcel Energy affiliated group that files a consolidated federal income tax return. The statute of limitations applicable to Xcel Energy's 2008 federal income tax return expired in September 2012. The statute of limitations applicable to Xcel Energy's 2009 federal income tax return expires in June 2015. In the third quarter of 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commenced an examination of tax years 2010 and 2011. As of March 31, 2013, the IRS had not proposed any material adjustments to tax years 2010 and 2011.

State Audits — SPS is a member of the Xcel Energy affiliated group that files consolidated state income tax returns. As of March 31, 2013, SPS' earliest open tax year that is subject to examination by state taxing authorities under applicable statutes of limitations is 2008. There are currently no state income tax audits in progress.

Unrecognized Tax Benefits — The unrecognized tax benefit balance includes permanent tax positions, which if recognized would affect the annual effective tax rate (ETR). In addition, the unrecognized tax benefit balance includes temporary tax positions for which the ultimate deductibility is highly certain but for which there is uncertainty about the timing of such deductibility. A change in the period of deductibility would not affect the ETR but would accelerate the payment of cash to the taxing authority to an earlier period.

A reconciliation of the amount of unrecognized tax benefit is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)	March 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012
Unrecognized tax benefit — Permanent tax positions	$	0.2	$	0.2
Unrecognized tax benefit — Temporary tax positions		3.7		3.7
Total unrecognized tax benefit	$	3.9	$	3.9

The unrecognized tax benefit amounts were reduced by the tax benefits associated with net operating loss (NOL) and tax credit carryforwards. The amounts of tax benefits associated with NOL and tax credit carryforwards are as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)		March 31, 2013				Dec. 31, 2012
NOL and tax credit carryforwards		$	(2.2	)		$	(2.0	)

It is reasonably possible that SPS' amount of unrecognized tax benefits could significantly change in the next 12 months as the IRS audit progresses and state audits resume. As the IRS examination moves closer to completion, it is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefit could decrease up to approximately $4 million.

The payable for interest related to unrecognized tax benefits is partially offset by the interest benefit associated with NOL and tax credit carryforwards. The payables for interest related to unrecognized tax benefits at March 31, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2012 were not material. No amounts were accrued for penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as of March 31, 2013 or Dec. 31, 2012.