Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

NOTE 14. INCOME TAXES

As a REIT, we generally are not subject to federal and state corporate income taxes on income from investments in real estate that we distribute to our shareholders. We conduct certain activities through our PotlatchDeltic TRS which are subject to corporate level federal and state income taxes. These activities are principally comprised of our wood products manufacturing operations and certain real estate investments. Therefore, income tax expense or benefit is primarily due to income or loss of the PotlatchDeltic TRS, as well as permanent book versus tax differences and discrete items.

We were also subject to corporate taxes on built-in gains (the excess of fair market value over tax basis on the merger date) on sales of former Deltic real property held by the REIT during the five years following the Deltic merger (until February 2023). The sale of standing timber is not subject to built-in gains tax.

Income tax expense consists of the following for the year ended December 31:

(in thousands)	2023			2022			2021
Current	$	9,053		$	70,669		$	85,131
Deferred		(9,501	)		(5,302	)		25
Net operating loss carryforwards		232			45			—
Income taxes	$	(216	)	$	65,412		$	85,156

Income tax expense differs from the amount computed by applying the statutory federal income tax rate of 21% to income before income taxes due to the following for the year ended December 31:

(in thousands, except effective tax rate)	2023			2022			2021
U.S. federal statutory income tax	$	12,996		$	83,855		$	106,893
REIT income not subject to federal income tax		(9,766	)		(27,085	)		(34,332	)
Federal unrecognized tax benefit change		(1,638	)		—			—
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit		(862	)		9,478			13,314
Other items, net1		(946	)		(836	)		(719	)
Income taxes	$	(216	)	$	65,412		$	85,156
Effective tax rate		(0.3	%)		16.4	%		16.7	%

1 Includes $1.0 million, $0 million and $1.0 million of deferred tax rate changes for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The tax effects of significant temporary differences creating deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31 were:

(in thousands)	2023			2022
Deferred tax assets:
Pension and other postretirement employee benefits	$	18,098		$	20,992
Inventories		892			753
Nondeductible accruals		1,663			2,559
Incentive compensation		1,444			1,910
Employee benefits		1,451			1,477
Other		790			706
Total deferred tax assets		24,338			28,397
Deferred tax liabilities:
Timber and timberlands, net		(1,827	)		(1,852	)
Property, plant and equipment, net		(51,704	)		(58,464	)
Intangible assets, net		(3,590	)		(4,037	)
Real estate development		(982	)		(1,628	)
Other		(2,876	)		(4,206	)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(60,979	)		(70,187	)
Deferred tax liabilities, net	$	(36,641	)	$	(41,790	)

We believe it is more likely than not that we will have sufficient future taxable income to realize our deferred tax assets. At December 31, 2023, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards of $12.3 million that expire from 2035 to 2037, state net operating loss carryforwards of $4.2 million that expire from 2028 to 2037. These net operating loss carryforwards were acquired in the CatchMark merger, have been reduced for Section 382 limitations under the Internal Revenue Code and are netted against corresponding uncertain tax position liabilities.

In conjunction with the CatchMark merger, we recorded uncertain tax position liabilities plus any applicable accrued interest, related to the treatment of certain intercompany transactions between CatchMark's REIT and its taxable REIT subsidiary. These liabilities are included in Other Long-Term Obligations and Deferred Tax Liabilities, net in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had $7.8 million and $8.3 million, respectively, of unrecognized tax benefits, most of which, if recognized, would affect the annual effective tax rate.

The following is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending unrecognized tax benefits for the year ended December 31:

(in thousands)	2023			2022
Balance at January 1	$	8,306		$	—
Additions for tax positions related to the current year		249			171
Additions for tax positions of prior years		1,545			8,810
Reduction for tax positions of prior years		(334	)		—
Lapse of statutes of limitations		(1,980	)		(675	)
Balance at December 31	$	7,786		$	8,306

During the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we reduced our uncertain tax positions due to the lapse of the statute of limitations by $2.0 million and $0.7 million, respectively. We are not aware of any tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change materially in the next twelve months.

We reflect accrued interest related to tax obligations, as well as penalties, in our provision for income taxes. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, we recognized insignificant amounts related to interest and penalties in our tax provision. At December 31, 2023, and 2022, we had insignificant amounts of accrued interest related to tax obligations and tax positions taken on our tax returns, and no accrued interest receivable with respect to open tax refunds.

The following table summarizes the tax years subject to examination by major taxing jurisdictions:

Jurisdiction	Years
Federal	2020 - 2023
Arkansas	2020 - 2023
Idaho	2020 - 2023
Michigan	2019 - 2023
Minnesota	2019 - 2023
Georgia	2020 - 2023