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Contingent Liabilities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Contingent Liabilities Contingent Liabilities
Litigation

The Company is subject to various lawsuits and other claims in the normal course of business. In addition, from time to time, the Company receives communications from government or regulatory agencies concerning investigations or allegations of noncompliance with laws or regulations in jurisdictions in which the Company operates.

The Company establishes reserves for the estimated losses on specific contingent liabilities for regulatory and legal actions where the Company deems a loss to be probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In other instances, losses are considered probable, but the Company is not able to make a reasonable estimate of the liability because of the uncertainties related to the outcome or the amount or range of potential loss. For these matters, disclosure is made, but no amount is reserved. The Company does not expect that the ultimate resolution of pending regulatory and legal matters in future periods will have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated statements of operations, balance sheets or cash flows.

Section 199 and Research and Development Tax Case: Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the“Tax Code”) provides for deductions for manufacturing performed in the U.S. The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has taken the position that directory providers are not entitled to take advantage of the deductions because printing vendors are
already taking deductions and only one taxpayer can claim the deduction. The Tax Code also grants tax credits related to research and development expenditures. The IRS also takes the position that the expenditures have not been sufficiently documented to be eligible for the tax credit. The Company disagrees with these positions.

The IRS has challenged the Company's positions. With respect to the tax years 2012 through June 2015 for the YP LLC partnership, the IRS sent 90-day notices to DexYP on August 29, 2018. In response, the Company filed three petitions (in the names of various related partners) in U.S. Tax Court, and the IRS filed answers to those petitions. The three cases were consolidated by the court and were referred back to IRS Administrative Appeals for settlement negotiations, during which time the litigation was suspended. The appeals conference for YP will likely occur during the three months ended December 31, 2021. In advance of the IRS Appeals conference, the parties reached an agreement regarding additional research and development tax credits for the tax years at issue whereby the IRS will allow more tax credits than were originally claimed on the tax returns. With respect to the tax year from July to December 2015 for the Print Media LLC partnership, the Company was recently unsuccessful in its attempt to negotiate a settlement with IRS Appeals, and the IRS issued a 90-day notice to the Company. The Company filed a petition in the U.S. Tax Court to challenge the IRS denial.

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company has reserved approximately $33.1 million and $31.9 million, respectively, in connection with the 199 disallowance and less than $0.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively, related to the research and development tax credit disallowance. The increase in the reserve balance was primarily attributable to additional interest accrued during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Pursuant to the YP Acquisition agreement, the Company is entitled to (i) a dollar-for-dollar indemnification for the research and development tax liability, and (ii) a dollar-for-dollar indemnification for the 199-tax liability after the Company pays the first $8.0 million in liability. The indemnification asset, however, is subject to a provision in the YP Acquisition agreement that limits the seller’s liability. The balance of the indemnification asset is $25.6 million and $24.3 million at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.

Other

Texas Sales, Excise, and Use Tax Audit: We conduct operations in many tax jurisdictions. In many of these jurisdictions, non-income-based taxes, such as sales and use tax and other indirect taxes, are assessed on our operations. Although we are diligent in collecting and remitting such taxes, there is uncertainty as to how each taxing jurisdiction will ultimately classify the Company's digital products and services for sales and use tax purposes. On June 24, 2020, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued a notice to the Company assigning a routine audit of the Company's sales, excise, and use tax account for the audit period covering March 1, 2017 through July 31, 2020. On August 31, 2021, the Company received the final Texas Notification of Audit Results with an assessment of less than $0.1 million, including interest. During the three months ended September 30, 2021, the Company reversed the $2.6 million reserve existing on the Company's consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 for the total combined exposure for the periods covered under the audit examination.

New York Sales, Excise, and Use Tax Audit: On August 19, 2020, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued a notice to the Company assigning a routine audit of the Company's sales, excise, and use tax account for the audit period covering March 1, 2017 through May 31, 2020. The Company has reserved $3.0 million for the total combined exposure for the respective period, which is accrued on the Company's consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2021.