Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income TaxesFor the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company calculated the provision for income taxes for interim periods by applying an estimate of 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 period. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company determined that this method of applying an estimate of the annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to "ordinary" income or loss did not provide a reliable estimate of the provision for income taxes because small fluctuations in estimated income resulted in significant changes in the estimated annual tax rate. Therefore, the Company instead used a discrete effective tax rate method to

calculate taxes for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. There were no material changes to the Company's methodology for determining unrecognized tax benefits during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.

The Company recorded income tax benefit at an effective tax rate of 22.3% and 17.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The Company's effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 was higher compared to the U.S. federal statutory rate due primarily to state taxes, including valuation allowances that limit certain state tax benefits, and the benefit related to the settlement of the Company's 2010, 2011 and 2012 audit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). These items were partly offset by valuation allowances provided against federal and state deferred tax assets for the additional unrealized losses on the Company's investment in Equitrans Midstream incurred through September 30, 2020 that, if such investment is sold, would become capital losses. The Company believes it is more likely than not that such additional unrealized losses will not be realized for tax purposes.

The Company's effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was lower compared to the U.S. federal statutory rate due primarily to state valuation allowances that limit certain state tax benefits as well as the Company's recognition of executive compensation and transaction costs, which are not deductible for tax purposes, partly offset by state taxes recorded in 2019 and the Company's reversal of its valuation allowances related to state net operating losses utilization against future taxable income and Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) refund sequestration. The Company's reversal of its AMT refund valuation allowance resulted from a first quarter 2019 IRS announcement that reversed the IRS's prior position that 6.2% of AMT refunds are subject to sequestration by the U.S. federal government.

On March 27, 2020, the U.S. Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). The CARES Act accelerated the Company's ability to claim federal refunds of AMT credits, increasing the Company's expected collectable refund in 2020 by $94.8 million to $379.3 million, all of which, plus interest of $12.1 million, was received during the nine months ended September 30, 2020. The CARES Act also increased the interest expense limitation from 30% to 50% of adjusted taxable income (ATI) and provides the Company the option to use its 2019 ATI in 2020. Further, the CARES Act modified certain net operating loss (NOL) rules, including allowing five year carrybacks for NOLs arising in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and temporarily removing the 80% taxable income NOL utilization limit for those periods. The Company does not expect any other tax-related provisions of the CARES Act to have a material impact on its financial statements and related disclosures.