Note 14 - Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

NOTE

14

– INCOMETAXES

The Company determines its provision for income taxes for interim periods using an estimate of its annual effective tax rate and records discrete tax items in the period in which they occur. In the

first

quarter of

2019,

the Company’s effective tax rate was

17.7%,

as compared to

26.0%

in the

first

quarter of

2018.

  For the

first

quarter of

2019,

the effective tax rate decreased due to the favorable impact of discrete items recognized during the period related to company-owned life insurance and unrecognized tax benefits.     

Accounting standards require that all tax positions be analyzed using a

two

-step approach.  The

first

step requires an entity to determine if a tax position is more-likely-than-

not

to be sustained upon examination.  In the

second

step, the tax benefit is measured as the largest amount of benefit, determined on a cumulative probability basis, that is more-likely-than-

not

to be realized upon ultimate settlement. In the

first

three

months of

2019,

the Company decreased its liability for unrecognized tax benefits by

$0.2

million. As of

March 31, 2019,

the Company had accrued approximately

$27.9

million for unrecognized tax benefits.  In accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Company’s deferred tax asset as of

March 31, 2019

reflects a reduction for

$2.8

million of these unrecognized tax benefits.