Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company files a consolidated Federal income tax return. The Reciprocal Exchanges are not included in the Company’s consolidated tax return as the Company does not have an ownership interest in the Reciprocal Exchanges, and they are not a part of the consolidated tax sharing agreement among the Company and its subsidiaries.

The Company uses the estimated annual effective tax rate method. Certain items, including those deemed to be unusual, infrequent or that cannot be reliably estimated, are excluded from the estimated annual effective tax rate. In these cases, the actual tax expense or benefit is reported in the same period as the related item. Certain tax effects are also not reflected in the estimated annual effective tax rate, primarily certain changes in the realizability of deferred tax assets and uncertain tax positions.

The Company’s consolidated effective tax rate decreased to 19.0% for the three months ended September 30, 2020, from 21.8% for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The Company’s consolidated effective tax rate decreased to 21.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020, from 21.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

All tax liabilities are payable to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and various state and local taxing agencies. The Company’s subsidiaries are currently under audit by the IRS for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and open to audit years thereafter for federal tax purposes. For state and local tax purposes, the Company is open to audit for tax years ended December 31, 2016, and forward, depending on jurisdiction.

On March 27, 2020, the U.S. enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES” Act) to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19. The Company believes that the provisions of the CARES Act will not have a material impact on its U.S. federal tax liabilities.