INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows ($ in thousands):



	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017

Deferred Tax Assets
Basis difference in operating partnerships	$	1,343		$	—
Net unrealized losses	937			1,461
Capital losses carryforward	2,427			5,781
Valuation allowance	(2,427		)	(5,781		)
Total Deferred Tax Assets	$	2,280		$	1,461



	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017

Deferred Tax Liability
Basis difference in operating partnerships	$	—	$	7,134
Net unrealized gains	—		—
Valuation allowance	—		—
Total Deferred Tax Liability	$	—	$	7,134

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation between the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate and the effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017		2016

US statutory tax rate	21.00	%		35.00	%	35.00	%
REIT income not subject to corporate income tax	(18.86	)%		(29.53	)%	(34.38	)%
Increase due to state and local taxes	2.44	%	(1)	0.74	%	4.41	%	(1)
Change in valuation allowance	(1.64	)%		2.13	%	0.42	%
Impact of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act	—	%		(2.53	)%	—	%
Other	(0.03	)%		(0.04	)%	(0.19	)%
Effective income tax rate	2.91	%		5.77	%	5.26	%


(1)	The increase in state taxes shown above is primarily related to additional tax expense of $3.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2016, pertaining to New York State tax audits, further discussed below

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Components of the provision for income taxes consist of the following ($ in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017		2016

Current expense (benefit)
U.S. Federal	$	7,099		$	1,845	$	(386	)
State and local	7,068			276		4,838
Total current expense (benefit)	14,167			2,121		4,452
Deferred expense (benefit)
U.S. Federal	(5,115		)	4,632		1,417
State and local	(2,409		)	959		451
Total deferred expense (benefit)	(7,524		)	5,591		1,868
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	$	6,643		$	7,712	$	6,320