12. Income Taxes – Continuing Operations

During the three months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recognized an income tax benefit of $4,414 on a pre-tax loss of $4,298, compared to an income tax expense of $777 on a pre-tax income of $2,329 for the prior year period. During the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recognized an income tax benefit of $5,357 on pre-tax loss of $2,798, representing an effective income tax rate of 191.5%. For the six months ended June 30, 2019, the Company recognized an income tax expense of $1,180 on a pre-tax loss of $365, representing an effective income tax rate of (323.3)%.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, the effective tax rate differs from the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate as follows:


	June 30,
	2020		2019
Tax at federal statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%
State taxes, net	15.0		(60.1)
Valuation allowance	18.9		(206.2)
Permanent items	17.0		(7.4)
Tax benefit CARES Act	127.9		—
Other	(8.3)		(70.6)
Effective income tax rate	191.5	%	(323.3)	%

In March 2020, the CARES Act was signed into law. The CARES Act allows companies with net operating losses (“NOLs”) originating in 2018, 2019, or 2020 to carry back those losses for five years and temporarily eliminates the tax law provision that limits the use of NOLs to 80% of taxable income. The CARES Act increases the Internal Revenue Code Section 163(j) interest deduction limit for 2019 and 2020, and allows for the acceleration of refunds of alternative minimum tax credits. For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company estimated a tax benefit for certain provisions in the CARES Act including the carryback of losses and the increase to the interest deduction limitation, resulting in a tax rate benefit of 127.9%. In addition, the Company has recorded a partial valuation allowance due to the limitation on the deductibility of interest expense with an income tax rate impact of 18.9% for the six months ended June 30, 2020. The Company’s income tax receivable on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2020, relates primarily to U.S. federal income tax receivables relating to prior tax years, including NOL carrybacks relating to the CARES Act income tax refund. Additionally, the income tax receivable relates to tax benefits based on our pre-tax loss and income tax provision through June 30, 2020. In the six months ended June 30, 2019, the effective tax rate differs from the federal U.S. statutory rate primarily due to the impact of tax expense recorded related to the partial valuation allowance due to the limitation on the deductibility of interest expense.