INCOME TAXES

On December 22, 2017 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted by the U.S. Government. The Tax Act made significant changes to the U.S. tax code that affected the Company's fiscal year ending July 28, 2018, including, but not limited to, reducing the U.S. federal corporate statutory income tax rate from 35.0% to 21.0% effective January 1, 2018, and introducing bonus depreciation that allows for full expensing of qualified property.

As the Company’s fiscal year ended on July 28, 2018, the Company’s U.S. federal corporate statutory income tax rate is subject to a full year blended tax rate of 26.9% for fiscal 2018, and 21.0% for subsequent fiscal years. As a result of the decrease in the U.S. federal corporate statutory rate, deferred tax balances were remeasured based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future. In the 52 weeks ended July 28, 2018, a benefit of $3,300 was recognized related to the remeasurement of the Company’s deferred tax balances, which is included in Income taxes on the consolidated statements of operations.

On December 22, 2017, the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") issued guidance under Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, "Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," allowing taxpayers to record provisional amounts for reasonable estimates when they do not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete their accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act. The SEC has issued rules that would allow for a measurement period of up to one year after the enactment date of the Tax Act to finalize the related tax impacts. The Company has completed recording the impacts of the change in tax rate. Estimates on the other impacts of the Tax Act were based on information currently available. The final impacts of the Tax Act may differ from the Company’s estimates due to changes in interpretations of the Tax Act or further legislation related to the Tax Act. Any changes could affect the measurement of deferred tax balances or potentially give rise to new deferred tax amounts.

The components of the provision for income taxes are:



	2018			2017
Federal:
Current	$	5,546		$	10,018
Deferred	(915		)	2,167

State:
Current	3,262			3,906
Deferred	(135		)	111

	$	7,758		$	16,202

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:



	July 28, 2018			July 29, 2017
Deferred tax assets:
Leasing activities	$	7,396		$	8,115
Federal benefit of uncertain tax positions	182			304
Compensation related costs	2,795			2,543
Pension costs	1,673			6,410
Other	456			729

Total deferred tax assets	12,502			18,101

Deferred tax liabilities:
Tax over book depreciation	13,557			17,603
Patronage dividend receivable	3,281			5,164
Investment in partnerships	1,030			1,479
Other	47			—

Total deferred tax liabilities	17,915			24,246

Net deferred tax liability	$	(5,413	)	$	(6,145	)

Deferred income tax assets (liabilities) are included in the following captions on the consolidated balance sheets at July 28, 2018 and July 29, 2017:



	2018		2017
Other assets	646		611
Other liabilities	(6,059	)	(6,756	)

A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. In management’s opinion, in view of the Company’s previous, current and projected taxable income and reversal of deferred tax liabilities, such tax assets will more likely than not be fully realized. Accordingly, no valuation allowance was deemed to be required at July 28, 2018 and July 29, 2017.

The effective income tax rate differs from the statutory federal income tax rate as follows:



	2018		2017
Statutory federal income tax rate	26.9	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	7.0	%	6.2	%
Deferred tax revaluation due to Tax Act	(10.0	)%	—	%
Other	(0.3	)%	0.2	%

Effective income tax rate	23.6	%	41.4	%

The New Jersey Division of Taxation is currently auditing tax years 2011 through 2015 for all applicable entities and tax years 2000 through 2014 related to a settlement agreement reached in February 2015 regarding nexus of certain subsidiaries. Additionally, the Company's fiscal 2014 through 2016 federal tax returns are currently under audit. The Company is open to examination by the remaining relevant tax authorities with varying statutes of limitations, generally ranging from three to four years.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:



	2018		2017
Balance at beginning of year	$	648	$	631
Additions based on tax positions related to prior periods	—		17

Balance at end of year	$	648	$	648

Unrecognized tax benefits at July 28, 2018 and July 29, 2017 include tax positions of $585 and $585 (net of federal benefit), respectively, that would reduce the Company’s effective income tax rate, if recognized in future periods.

Although the outcome and timing are uncertain, the Company anticipates that the balance of gross unrecognized tax benefits will reverse during the next twelve months.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties on income taxes in income tax expense. The Company recognized expense of $50 in fiscal 2017 related to interest and penalties on income taxes. The amount of accrued interest and penalties included in the consolidated balance sheet was $242 at July 28, 2018 and July 29, 2017, respectively.