12.  INCOME TAXES

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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Tax Act) was enacted on December 22, 2017 and became effective January 1, 2018.  The Tax Act, among other things, reduced the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.  In addition, the Tax Act limited certain deductions.  Some of the major changes from the Tax Act that have affected the Company’s effective tax rate include the elimination of the Domestic Production Activities Deduction; the elimination of deductions related to entertainment expenses; and increased limitations on the deductibility of officer compensation.

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ASC 740, “Income Taxes” required us to adjust deferred tax assets and liabilities for the effect of tax rate changes in the period the rate change was enacted.  Accordingly, the deferred tax balances were adjusted to reflect the change in the federal statutory rate from 35 percent to 21 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017.  The adjustment resulted in a $74.1 million tax benefit in the U.S. Federal deferred tax expense for the year ending December 31, 2017.

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A valuation allowance must be established for deferred tax assets when it is more-likely-than-not that they will not be realized.  After review of all available positive and negative evidence, the Company has determined that no valuation allowance was required for the deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2019 or December 31, 2018.  As of December 31, 2019, there are no valuation allowances in place.

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At December 31, 2019, the net deferred tax liability of $171.0 million consisted of net long-term deferred tax assets of $4.3 million and net long-term deferred tax liabilities of $175.3 million.  At December 31, 2018, the net deferred tax liability of $163.0 million consisted of net long-term deferred tax assets of $13.2 million and net long-term deferred tax liabilities of $176.2 million.  The deferred assets and deferred liabilities show the State deferreds net of Federal benefit.

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Of the deferred tax asset related to the net operating loss at December 31, 2019, $12.7 million will expire between 2021 and 2038. Of the deferred tax asset related to the net operating loss at December 31, 2018, $17.2 million will expire between 2021 and 2037.  

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A reconciliation of the U.S. Federal statutory tax rate to the income tax expense (benefit) on income was as follows:

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The negative (beneficial) effective tax rate in 2017 is mostly related to the beneficial adjustment of $74.1 million included in the 2017 Federal deferred tax expense related to the adjustment of the deferred tax balances for the reduction of the Federal tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, enacted in December of 2017.  

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Share based compensation became a material factor in the Company’s effective tax rate beginning in 2017.  A tax benefit of $6.3 million, $3.2 million and $2.9 million related to share based compensation was recognized in income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2019, December 31, 2018, and December 31, 2017, respectively.

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The Domestic Production Activities Deduction, under IRC §199, was eliminated under the Tax Act and had only become a material factor in the Company’s effective tax rate in 2016.

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We file income tax returns in the U.S. Federal jurisdiction and various state and local jurisdictions. With few exceptions, we are no longer subject to income tax examinations on filed returns for years before 2016.

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As of December 31, 2019, there are no liabilities related to uncertain tax positions. We have not incurred any interest or penalties related to uncertain tax positions not meeting the minimum statutory threshold to avoid payment of penalties in the year ended December 31, 2019.