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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

Note 7. Income Taxes

The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) 118, which provides guidance on accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act. SAB 118 provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from the Tax Act enactment date for companies to complete the accounting under ASC 740. In accordance with SAB 118, a company must reflect the income tax effects of those aspects of the Tax Act for which the accounting under ASC 740 is complete. To the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act is incomplete but it is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in the financial statements. If a company cannot determine a provisional estimate to be included in the financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the Tax Act.

Through the quarter ended September 30, 2018, the Company recognized no adjustments to the provisional amounts recorded at December 31, 2017. Additionally, the Company has not completed its accounting for all of the tax effects of the Tax Act that became effective January 1, 2018, but has recognized provisional amounts in its income tax provision. The Company is awaiting further guidance from U.S. federal and state regulatory bodies with regards to the final accounting and reporting of these items in the several jurisdictions where the Company files tax returns. In all cases, the Company will continue to make and refine its calculations as additional analysis is completed. Its estimates may also be affected as the Company gains a more thorough understanding of the tax law.

The Company estimates an annual effective income tax rate based on projected results for the year and applies this rate to income before taxes to calculate income tax expense. Any refinements made due to subsequent information that affects the estimated annual effective income tax rate are reflected as adjustments in the current period.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the Company’s tax expense was $20.0 million and $31.3 million, respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company’s tax expense was $12.6 million and for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company’s tax benefit was $26.1 million. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, the difference between the effective rate and the statutory rate is attributed primarily to non-deductible expenses and state and local income taxes. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the difference between the effective rate and the statutory rate is attributed primarily to non-deductible transaction costs incurred and changes in the effective state tax rate associated with the Isle acquisition, state and local income taxes and the release of the valuation allowance against certain Pennsylvania deferred tax assets. As of September 30, 2018 and 2017, there were no unrecognized tax benefits and the Company does not expect a significant increase or decrease to the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits within the next twelve months.

The Company and its subsidiaries file US federal income tax returns and various state and local income tax returns. The Company does not have tax sharing agreements with the other members within the consolidated ERI group. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to US federal or state and local tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2012.

The Company was notified by the Internal Revenue Service in October of 2016 that its federal tax return for the year ended December 31, 2014 had been selected for examination. In September 2017, the IRS informed the Company that they completed the examination of the tax return and made no changes.