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Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
 
For the six months ended June 30, 2017, the Company calculated the provision for income taxes by applying the annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to “ordinary” income or loss (pre-tax income or loss excluding unusual or infrequently occurring items) for the quarter. The Company determined small fluctuations in estimated “ordinary” income would result in significant changes in the estimated annual effective tax rate and thus an estimated annual effective tax rate would not provide a reliable estimate for the six months ended June 30, 2016. As a consequence, the Company used a discrete effective tax rate method to calculate taxes for the six months ended June 30, 2016.

All of EQGP’s income is included in the Company’s pre-tax income. However, the Company is not required to record income tax expense with respect to the portion of EQGP’s income allocated to the noncontrolling public limited partners of EQGP and EQM, which reduces the Company’s effective tax rate in periods when the Company has consolidated pre-tax income and increases the Company's effective tax rate in periods when the Company has consolidated pre-tax loss.
 
The Company had consolidated pre-tax income for the six months ended June 30, 2017, compared to a consolidated pre-tax loss for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The Company’s effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was 25.9% compared to 64.1% for the six months ended June 30, 2016. The decrease in the effective income tax rate was attributable to the Company's consolidated pre-tax income for the six months ended June 30, 2017, for which EQGP's income allocated to the noncontrolling limited partners reduced the effective tax rate. The Company's pre-tax income increased primarily due to an increase in EQT Production segment operating income during the period resulting primarily from a higher average realized price and gains on derivatives not designated as hedges for the six months ended June 30, 2017.

There were no material changes to the Company’s methodology for determining unrecognized tax benefits during the three months ended June 30, 2017.