Income taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income taxes

NOTE 4 – Income taxes

The provision (benefit) for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

2024	Current		Deferred			Total
Federal	$	154,621	$	120		$	154,741
State and other		23,130		(3,927	)		19,203
Total	$	177,751	$	(3,807	)	$	173,944

2023	Current		Deferred		Total
Federal	$	96,816	$	14,240	$	111,056
State and other		13,646		5,497		19,143
Total	$	110,462	$	19,737	$	130,199

2022	Current		Deferred		Total
Federal	$	161,438	$	13,435	$	174,873
State and other		23,456		4,041		27,497
Total	$	184,894	$	17,476	$	202,370

Income before income taxes attributable to TEGNA Inc. consists almost entirely of domestic income, with an immaterial amount from foreign sources.

The provision for income taxes varies from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate as a result of the following differences:

	2024			2023			2022
U.S. statutory tax rate		21.0	%		21.0	%		21.0	%
Increase (decrease) in taxes resulting from:
State taxes (net of federal income tax benefit)		2.9			2.3			2.7
Purchase of clean energy federal tax credits		(1.0	)		—			—
Uncertain tax positions, settlements and lapse of statutes of limitations		(0.3	)		(0.2	)		—
Valuation allowance on equity method investment		0.1			(0.7	)		0.6
Other valuation allowances, tax rate changes, & deferred adjustments		(0.7	)		0.8			(0.6	)
Non-deductible transaction costs		—			(0.8	)		0.5
Net excess benefits or expense on share-based payments		0.2			(0.1	)		(0.3	)
Non-taxable Merger termination fee		—			(1.3	)		—
Other, net		0.3			0.5			0.4
Effective tax rate		22.5	%		21.5	%		24.3	%

Deferred income taxes reflect temporary differences in the recognition of revenue and expense for tax reporting and financial statement purposes. Deferred tax liabilities and assets are adjusted for changes in tax laws or tax rates of the various tax jurisdictions as of the enacted date.

Deferred tax liabilities and assets were composed of the following as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

	2024		2023
Deferred tax liabilities
Accelerated amortization of deductible intangibles	$	567,009	$	561,741
Accelerated depreciation		59,558		65,247
Right-of-use assets for operating leases		15,770		18,361
Other		4,097		4,024
Total deferred tax liabilities		646,434		649,373
Deferred tax assets
Accrued compensation costs		23,081		22,450
Pension and post-retirement medical and life		17,804		18,839
Loss carryforwards		15,416		16,435
Operating lease liabilities		16,656		19,443
Other		18,065		18,988
Total deferred tax assets		91,022		96,155
Deferred tax asset valuation allowance		23,801		25,001
Total net deferred tax liabilities	$	579,213	$	578,219

As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $4.3 million of state net operating loss carryovers that, if not utilized, will expire in various amounts beginning in 2028 through 2043 in addition to $3.7 million of federal and $13.3 million of state interest disallowance carryforwards that do not expire.

Included in total deferred tax assets are valuation allowances of approximately $23.8 million as of December 31, 2024, and $25.0 million as of December 31, 2023, primarily related to federal and state interest disallowance carryforwards, minority investments, accrued compensation costs, and state net operating loss carryforwards. This $1.2 million change in valuation allowance is primarily due to the release of a valuation allowance on state net operating loss carryforwards partially offset by additional valuation allowances on state interest disallowance carryforwards. If, in the future, we believe that it is more likely than not that these deferred tax assets will be realized, the valuation allowances will be reversed in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

Realization of deferred tax assets for which valuation allowances have not been established is dependent upon generating sufficient future taxable income. We expect to realize the benefit of these deferred tax assets through future reversals of our deferred tax liabilities, through the recognition of taxable income in the allowable carryback and carryforward periods, and through implementation of future tax planning strategies. Although realization is not assured, we believe it is more likely than not that all deferred tax assets for which valuation allowances have not been established will be realized.

The following table summarizes the activity related to deferred tax asset valuation allowances (in thousands):

	2024			2023			2022
Balance at beginning of year	$	25,001		$	26,339		$	41,929
Additions to valuation allowance		2,212			5,001			7,228
Reductions to valuation allowance		(3,412	)		(6,339	)		(22,818	)
Balance at the end of year	$	23,801		$	25,001		$	26,339

Uncertain Tax Positions

The following table summarizes the activity related to unrecognized tax benefits, excluding the federal tax benefit of state tax deductions (in thousands):

	2024			2023			2022
Change in unrecognized tax benefits
Balance at beginning of year	$	6,645		$	7,725		$	8,196
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		123			—			—
Additions for tax positions of prior years		123			151			—
Reductions of tax positions of prior years		(378	)		(680	)		—
Settlements		(1,710	)		—			(9	)
Reductions due to lapse of statutes of limitations		(567	)		(551	)		(462	)
Balance as of end of year	$	4,236		$	6,645		$	7,725

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate was $3.4 million as of December 31, 2024, and $5.6 million as of December 31, 2023. This amount includes the federal tax benefit of state tax deductions.

We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. We also recognize interest income attributable to overpayment of income taxes and from the reversal of interest expense previously recorded for uncertain tax positions which are subsequently released as a component of income tax expense. We recorded income from interest and penalties for uncertain tax positions of $0.8 million in 2024 and $0.3 million in 2023 while recognizing an expense of $0.2 million in 2022. The amount of accrued interest expense and penalties payable related to unrecognized tax benefits was zero as of December 31, 2024 and $0.7 million as of December 31, 2023.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. and various state jurisdictions. The 2021 through 2024 tax years remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service, and the 2016 through 2024 tax years remain subject to examination by state authorities.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized benefit with respect to certain of our unrecognized tax positions will increase or decrease within the next 12 months. These changes may be the result of settlement of ongoing audits, lapses of statutes of limitations or other regulatory developments. At this time, we estimate the amount of our gross unrecognized tax positions may decrease by up to approximately $0.6 million within the next 12 months primarily due to lapses of statutes of limitations and settlement of ongoing audits in various jurisdictions.