Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

NOTE 16. INCOME TAXES

The following table displays our Income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax, Income tax (benefit) expense and Effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 (dollars in thousands):

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2020			2019
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income tax	$	21,249		$	(1,709	)
Income tax (benefit) expense	$	(136,332	)	$	10,903
Effective tax rate	(641.6		)%	(638.0		)%

The income tax benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2020 primarily relates to the discrete tax benefit arising from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), as discussed below. As of March 31, 2020, we had valuation allowances established against our deferred tax assets in most jurisdictions in which we operate, with the exception of Canada and India. The income tax expense for the comparable 2019 period primarily relates to a taxable gain arising from the extinguishment of debt in the March 2019 Refinancing Transactions.

On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was enacted by the U.S. government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act, among other things, permits net operating loss (NOL) carryovers and carrybacks to offset 100% of taxable income for taxable years beginning before 2021. In addition, the CARES Act allows NOLs incurred in 2018, 2019 and 2020 to be carried back to each of the five preceding taxable years to generate a refund of previously paid income taxes. In the first quarter of 2020, the Company has recorded a discrete tax benefit in continuing operations of $137.3 million as a result of the change in the NOL carryback period.