Taxation	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Taxation	Taxation GreenSky, Inc. is taxed as a corporation and pays corporate federal, state and local taxes on income allocated to it from GS Holdings based upon GreenSky, Inc.’s economic interest held in GS Holdings. GS Holdings is treated as a pass-through partnership for income tax reporting purposes. GS Holdings’ members, including GreenSky, Inc., are liable for federal, state and local income taxes based on their share of GS Holdings’ pass-through taxable income. The Company’s effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, was 3.8% and 2.6%, respectively, and the Company recorded $1,594 and $1,594 of income tax expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively. The Company’s effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, was less than our combined federal and state statutory tax rate of 23.5%, primarily because the Company is not liable for income taxes on the portion of GS Holdings’ earnings that are attributable to noncontrolling interests, and prior to the Reorganization Transactions, GS Holdings earnings were completely exempt from federal corporate income taxation. The results from the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 do not reflect income tax expense, because prior to the Reorganization Transactions, the consolidated GS Holdings pass-through entity, was not subject to corporate tax. The Company regularly monitors its uncertain tax benefits, and as of June 30, 2018, there were no material uncertain tax benefits that if realized would affect the estimated annual effective tax rate, nor were there positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amount of uncertain tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease within the next 12 months. As a result of the IPO and Reorganization Transactions, the Company recognized a net deferred tax asset in the amount of $245,836 primarily associated with the basis difference in our investment in GS Holdings. During the six months ended June 30, 2018, we also recognized $57,116 of deferred tax assets related to additional tax basis increases generated from expected future payments under a TRA with certain of the then-existing members of GS Holdings and related deductions for imputed interest on such payments. See "Tax receivable agreement liability" below for more information. We evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis and establish valuation allowances when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of a deferred tax asset may not be realized. As of June 30, 2018, we concluded, based on the weight of all available positive and negative evidence, that all of our deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized. As such, no additional valuation allowance was recognized. The Company did not recognize any change to the valuation allowance through the provision for income tax for the three or six months ended June 30, 2017, because prior to the Reorganization Transactions, GreenSky, Inc., did not have any operations or investments, and therefore, did not have any deferred tax assets. Tax receivable agreement liability Pursuant to our election under Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), we expect to obtain an increase in our share of the tax basis in the net assets of GS Holdings when Holdco Units are redeemed or exchanged by the Continuing LLC Members of GS Holdings. We intend to treat any redemptions and exchanges of Holdco Units as direct purchases of Holdco Units for U.S. federal income tax purposes. These increases in tax basis may reduce the amounts that we would otherwise pay in the future to various tax authorities. They may also decrease gains (or increase losses) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those capital assets. On May 23, 2018, we entered into a TRA that provides for the payment by us of 85% of the amount of any tax benefits that we actually realize, or in some cases are deemed to realize, as a result of (i) increases in our share of the tax basis in the net assets of GS Holdings resulting from any redemptions or exchanges of Holdco Units and from our acquisition of the equity of certain of the Former Corporate Investors, (ii) tax basis increases attributable to payments made under the TRA, and (iii) deductions attributable to imputed interest pursuant to the TRA (the "TRA Payments"). We expect to benefit from the remaining 15% of any tax benefits that we may actually realize. The TRA Payments are not conditioned upon any continued ownership interest in GS Holdings or us. The rights of each member of GS Holdings, that is a party to the TRA, are assignable to transferees of their respective Holdco Units. As of June 30, 2018, the Company had a liability of $255.8 million related to its projected obligations under the TRA, which is captioned as tax receivable agreement liability in our Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Taxation

GreenSky, Inc. is taxed as a corporation and pays corporate federal, state and local taxes on income allocated to it from GS Holdings based upon GreenSky, Inc.’s economic interest held in GS Holdings. GS Holdings is treated as a pass-through partnership for income tax reporting purposes. GS Holdings’ members, including GreenSky, Inc., are liable for federal, state and local income taxes based on their share of GS Holdings’ pass-through taxable income.

The Company’s effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, was 3.8% and 2.6%, respectively, and the Company recorded $1,594 and $1,594 of income tax expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively. The Company’s effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, was less than our combined federal and state statutory tax rate of 23.5%, primarily because the Company is not liable for income taxes on the portion of GS Holdings’ earnings that are attributable to noncontrolling interests, and prior to the Reorganization Transactions, GS Holdings earnings were completely exempt from federal corporate income taxation. The results from the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 do not reflect income tax expense, because prior to the Reorganization Transactions, the consolidated GS Holdings pass-through entity, was not subject to corporate tax.

The Company regularly monitors its uncertain tax benefits, and as of June 30, 2018, there were no material uncertain tax benefits that if realized would affect the estimated annual effective tax rate, nor were there positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amount of uncertain tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease within the next 12 months.

As a result of the IPO and Reorganization Transactions, the Company recognized a net deferred tax asset in the amount of $245,836 primarily associated with the basis difference in our investment in GS Holdings. During the six months ended June 30, 2018, we also recognized $57,116 of deferred tax assets related to additional tax basis increases generated from expected future payments under a TRA with certain of the then-existing members of GS Holdings and related deductions for imputed interest on such payments. See "Tax receivable agreement liability" below for more information. We evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis and establish valuation allowances when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of a deferred tax asset may not be realized.

As of June 30, 2018, we concluded, based on the weight of all available positive and negative evidence, that all of our deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized. As such, no additional valuation allowance was recognized. The Company did not recognize any change to the valuation allowance through the provision for income tax for the three or six months ended June 30, 2017, because prior to the Reorganization Transactions, GreenSky, Inc., did not have any operations or investments, and therefore, did not have any deferred tax assets.

Tax receivable agreement liability

Pursuant to our election under Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), we expect to obtain an increase in our share of the tax basis in the net assets of GS Holdings when Holdco Units are redeemed or exchanged by the Continuing LLC Members of GS Holdings. We intend to treat any redemptions and exchanges of Holdco Units as direct purchases of Holdco Units for U.S. federal income tax purposes. These increases in tax basis may reduce the amounts that we would otherwise pay in the future to various tax authorities. They may also decrease gains (or increase losses) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those capital assets.

On May 23, 2018, we entered into a TRA that provides for the payment by us of 85% of the amount of any tax benefits that we actually realize, or in some cases are deemed to realize, as a result of (i) increases in our share of the tax basis in the net assets of GS Holdings resulting from any redemptions or exchanges of Holdco Units and from our acquisition of the equity of certain of the Former Corporate Investors, (ii) tax basis increases attributable to payments made under the TRA, and (iii) deductions attributable to imputed interest pursuant to the TRA (the "TRA Payments"). We expect to benefit from the remaining 15% of any tax benefits that we may actually realize. The TRA Payments are not conditioned upon any continued ownership interest in GS Holdings or us. The rights of each member of GS Holdings, that is a party to the TRA, are assignable to transferees of their respective Holdco Units.

As of June 30, 2018, the Company had a liability of $255.8 million related to its projected obligations under the TRA, which is captioned as tax receivable agreement liability in our Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheet.