Note 8 - Federal, State and Local Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

Note

8

- Federal, State and Local Income Taxes:

In accordance with the requirements of the Income Tax Topic of the FASB's ASC, the Company's provision for income taxes includes the following:

	Three Months Ended July 31,
($ in thousands)	2020		2019
Current tax expense:
Federal	$	1,313	$	990
State and local		353		296
Current tax expense		1,666		1,286
Deferred tax expense (benefit):
Federal		44		(16	)
State and local		1		77
Deferred tax expense (benefit):		45		61
Income tax provision	$	1,711	$	1,347

On

December 22, 2017

H.R.

1,

originally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act"), was enacted. The Tax Act lowered the U.S. federal income tax rate ("Federal Tax Rate") from

35%

to

21%

effective

January 1, 2018.

Accordingly, the Company computes Federal income tax expense using the Federal Tax Rate of

21%

in fiscal year

2021.

The overall effective income tax rates, as a percentage of pre-tax ordinary income for the

three

months ended

July 31, 2020

and

July 31, 2019

were

25.06%

and

26.74%,

respectively. The decrease in the effective tax rate during the quarter ended

July 31, 2020

is primarily a result of a decrease in the state and local income taxes as a result of changes in state and local tax allocation factors in fiscal

2021.

The Company's annualized overall effective tax rate fluctuates due to a number of factors, in addition to changes in tax law, including but

not

limited to an increase or decrease in the ratio of items that do

not

have tax consequences to pre-tax income, the Company's geographic profit mix between tax jurisdictions, taxation method adopted by each locality, new interpretations of existing tax laws and rulings and settlements with tax authorities.

Deferred income taxes, a liability, are provided for temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of the Company's assets and liabilities. The tax effect of temporary differences giving rise to the Company's long-term deferred tax liability are as follows:

	July 31,			April 30,
($ in thousands)	2020			2020
Federal tax liability (benefit):
Deferred gain on deconsolidation of EAM	$	10,669		$	10,669
Deferred non-cash post-employment compensation		(372	)		(372	)
Depreciation and amortization		115			108
Unrealized gain on securities held for sale		334			299
Right of Use Asset		(186	)		(182	)
Deferred charges		(148	)		(166	)
Other		(190	)		(207	)
Total federal tax liability		10,222			10,149
State and local tax liabilities (benefits):
Deferred gain on deconsolidation of EAM		2,578			2,564
Deferred non-cash post-employment compensation		(90	)		(88	)
Depreciation and amortization		28			44
Unrealized gain on securities held for sale		81			72
Other		131			110
Total state and local tax liabilities		2,728			2,702
Deferred tax liability, long-term	$	12,950		$	12,851

At the end of each interim reporting period, the Company estimates the effective income tax rate to apply for the full fiscal year. The Company uses the effective income tax rate determined to provide for income taxes on a year-to-date basis and reflects the tax effect of any tax law changes and certain other discrete events in the period in which they occur.

The provision for income taxes differs from the amount of income tax determined by applying the applicable U.S. statutory income tax rate to pretax income as a result of the following:

	Three Months Ended July 31,
	2020			2019
U.S. statutory federal tax rate		21.00	%		21.00	%
Increase (decrease) in tax rate from:
State and local income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		4.35	%		5.84	%
Effect of dividends received deductions		(0.26	)%		(0.20	)%
Other, net		(0.03	)%		0.10	%
Effective income tax rate		25.06	%		26.74	%

The Company believes that, as of

July 31, 2020,

there were

no

material uncertain tax positions that would require disclosure under GAAP.

The Company is included in the consolidated federal income tax return of the Parent. The Company has a tax sharing agreement which requires it to make tax payments to the Parent equal to the Company's liability/(benefit) as if it filed a separate return. Beginning with the fiscal year ended

April 30, 2017,

the Company files combined income tax returns with the Parent on a unitary basis in certain states.

The Company's federal income tax returns (included in the Parent's consolidated returns) and state and city tax returns for fiscal years ended

2017

through

2019,

are subject to examination by the tax authorities, generally for

three

years after they are filed with the tax authorities. The Company is presently engaged in a New York City tax audit for the fiscal years ended

April 30, 2017

through

2019

and does

not

expect it to have a material effect on the financial statements.