2.2.0.25falsefalse0207 - Disclosure - Income Taxestruefalsefalse1falsefalseUSDfalsefalse1/1/2011 - 3/31/2011 USD ($) USD ($) / shares $Jan-01-2011_Mar-31-2011http://www.sec.gov/CIK0000793547duration2011-01-01T00:00:002011-03-31T00:00:00USDStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso42170USDEPSDividehttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso4217http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0SharesStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0USDUSD$2true0us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefitAbstractus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringNo definition available.falsefalseIncome Taxes [Abstract]3false0us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureTextBlockus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseverboselabel1falsefalsefalse00  <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: 0in; "> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt"><b>Note 7. Income Taxes</b> </div> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">The Company is subject to the tax laws and regulations of the United States (“U.S.”) and foreign countries in which it operates. The Company files a consolidated U.S. federal tax return, which includes all domestic subsidiaries and the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) Branch. The income from the foreign operations is designated as either U.S. connected income or non-U.S. connected income. Lloyd’s is required to pay U.S. income tax on U.S. connected income written by Lloyd’s syndicates. Lloyd’s and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) have entered into an agreement whereby the amount of tax due on U.S. connected income is calculated by Lloyd’s and remitted directly to the IRS. These amounts are then charged to the corporate members in proportion to their participation in the relevant syndicates. The Company’s corporate members are subject to this agreement and will receive U.K. tax credits for any U.S. income tax incurred up to the U.K. income tax charged on the U.S. connected income. The non-U.S. connected insurance income would generally constitute taxable income under the Subpart F income section of the Internal Revenue Code (“Subpart F”) since less than 50% of Syndicate 1221’s premiums are derived within the U.K. and would therefore be subject to U.S. taxation when the Lloyd’s year of account closes. Taxes are accrued at a 35% rate on the Company’s foreign source insurance income and foreign tax credits, where available, are utilized to offset U.S. tax as permitted. The Company’s effective tax rate for Syndicate 1221 taxable income could substantially exceed 35% to the extent the Company is unable to offset U.S. taxes paid under Subpart F tax regulations with U.K. tax credits on future underwriting year distributions. U.S. taxes are not accrued on the earnings of the Company’s foreign agencies as these earnings are not includable as Subpart F income in the current year. These earnings are subject to taxes under U.K. tax regulations at a 28% rate. A finance bill was enacted in the U.K. in July 2010 that reduces the U.K. corporate tax rate from 28% to 27% effective April 2011. The effect of such tax rate change was not material. </div>   </div>  <div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-left: 0in; "> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">The Company has not provided for U.S. deferred income taxes on the undistributed earnings of approximately $51.6 million of its’ non-U.S. subsidiaries since these earnings are intended to be permanently reinvested in the non-U.S. subsidiaries. However, in the future, if such earnings were distributed to the Company, taxes of approximately $1.5 million would be payable on such undistributed earnings and would be reflected in the tax provision for the year in which these earnings are no longer intended to be permanently reinvested in the foreign subsidiary, assuming all foreign tax credits are realized. </div> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">A tax benefit taken in the tax return but not in the financial statements is known as an unrecognized tax benefit. The Company has no unrecognized tax benefits at March 31, 2011 and March 31, 2010. The Company did not incur any interest or penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2010. The Company is currently not under examination by any major U.S. or foreign tax authority and is generally subject to U.S. Federal, state or local, or foreign tax examinations by tax authorities for years 2007 and subsequent. </div> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">The Company recorded an income tax benefit of $4.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011 compared to an income tax expense of $6.3 million for the comparable period in 2010, resulting in effective tax rates of 36.3% and 27.1% respectively. The effective tax rate on net investment income was 28.5% for the 2011 three months period compared to 24.5% for the same period in 2010. The net deferred tax asset at March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010 was $15.9 million and $15.1 million, respectively. </div> <div align="justify" style="font-size: 10pt; margin-top: 10pt">The Company had state and local deferred tax assets amounting to potential future tax benefits of $2.4 million and $2.2 million at March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. Included in the deferred tax assets are state and local net operating loss carry-forwards of $1.4 million at March 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010. A valuation allowance was established for the full amount of these potential future tax benefits due to the uncertainty associated with their realization. The Company’s state and local tax carry-forwards at March 31, 2011 expire from 2023 to 2025. </div> </div>  <!-- Begin Block Tagged NotefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescription containing the entire income tax disclosure. Examples include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. This element may be used as a single block of text to encapsulate the entire disclosure including data and tables.Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph h -Article 4 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 136, 172 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 falsefalseIncome Taxes12Income TaxesUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownfalsetrue