Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

For the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, 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. There were no material changes to the Company’s methodology for determining unrecognized tax benefits during the six months ended June 30, 2019. 

The Company recorded income tax expense at an effective tax rate of 19.6% for the six months ended June 30, 2019 and income tax benefit at an effective tax rate of 24.1% for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The Company’s effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was lower than the statutory rate primarily due to the release of valuation allowances relating to the Company’s ability to utilize state net operating losses against future taxable income and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) sequestration. The IRS announced in January 2019 that it was reversing its prior position that 6.2% of AMT refunds were subject to sequestration by the federal government. As a result, the Company reversed this related valuation allowance in the first quarter of 2019. The Company’s effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was lower than the statutory rate primarily because the amount of benefit recorded at any interim period is limited to the amount of benefit that would be recognized if the year-to-date loss was the forecasted loss for the entire year.