13. Income Taxes

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “2017 Act”) was signed into law, a broad range of tax reform legislation affecting businesses, including lowering corporate tax rates, among other provisions. Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, changes in tax rates and tax law are accounted for in the period of enactment. The company recognized the income tax effects of the 2017 Act in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, which provides SEC staff guidance for the application of ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes, in the reporting period in which the 2017 Act was signed into law. As such, the Company’s financial results reflect the income tax effects of the 2017 Tax Act for which the accounting under ASC Topic 740 is complete. The Company did not identify items for which the income tax effects of the 2017 Act have not been completed and a reasonable estimate could not be determined as of December 31, 2017.

The 2017 Act reduces the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. ASC 740 requires deferred tax assets and liabilities to be valued using enacted tax rates in effect in the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Thus, the Company revalued its federal deferred taxes based upon the new 21% tax rate, which resulted in an $11.4 million charge to the provision during the three months ended December 31, 2017.

The 2017 Act also allows for immediate full expensing for property placed in service after September 27, 2017 and before January 1, 2023. The Company has made the election to accelerate these deductions for the year ended December 31, 2017 tax returns. At this time, it is uncertain which states will follow federal rules regarding accelerated depreciation and as such, the Company has not been able to make a reasonable estimate on the impact of deferred taxes related to state depreciation and continue to account for this based on the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect prior to enactment. In addition, the 2017 Act places limitations on the deductibility of certain executive compensation awards in the future, although the Company’s existing awards remain eligible for deductibility pursuant to the 2017 Act. The Company is still analyzing the 2017 Act and refining its calculations, which could potentially impact the measurement of the Company’s tax balances.

The income tax provision for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 is summarized below (in thousands):


	2015		2016		2017
Current:
Federal	$	25,515	$	26,015	$	21,156
State		4,538		4,869		4,477
Total current		30,053		30,884		25,633
Deferred:
Change in federal tax rate due to the 2017 Act		—		—		11,375
Federal		(3,634)		(7,748)		(3,193)
State		(311)		(646)		(1,781)
Total deferred		(3,945)		(8,394)		6,401
Total provision for income taxes	$	26,108	$	22,490	$	32,034

The tax effects of the principal temporary differences that give rise to the Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 (in thousands):


	2016		2017
Stock-based compensation	$	20,477	$	15,024
Property and equipment		(6,059)		(3,326)
Other facility-related costs		5,242		2,622
Deferred revenue		7,182		5,445
Tuition receivable		3,922		—
Deferred leasing costs		3,064		1,789
Prepaid compensation		(1,139)		(373)
Other		(1,592)		3,271
Net deferred tax asset	$	31,097	$	24,452

The Company had no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2016, the Company’s liability for unrecognized tax benefits was included in income taxes payable in the consolidated balance sheet. Interest and penalties, including those related to uncertain tax positions, are included in the provision for income taxes in the consolidated statements of income. The Company recognized $0.1 million and $0.2 million of expense related to interest and penalties in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The total amount of interest and penalties included in the consolidated balance sheet was $0.1 million as of December 31, 2016.

The following table summarizes changes in unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the respective periods (in thousands):


	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2017
Beginning unrecognized tax benefits	$	505	$	176
Reductions for tax positions taken in prior years		(329)		(176)
Ending unrecognized tax benefits	$	176	$	—

A reconciliation between the Company’s statutory tax rate and the effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016, and 2017 is as follows:


	2015		2016		2017
Statutory federal rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefits	4.2		4.5		4.2
Adjustment to deferred tax assets as a result of the 2017 Act	—		—		21.8
Transaction costs	—		—		5.2
Adjustments to contingent consideration	—		(0.3)		(5.0)
Other	0.3		0.1		(0.4)
Effective tax rate	39.5	%	39.3	%	60.8	%

Cash payments for income taxes were $28.5 million, $31.6 million, and $26.2 million in 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively.