Income Tax Matters

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Matters

12. Income Tax Matters

The income tax benefit (provision) consisted of the following (in millions of dollars):

	Quarter Ended March 31,
	2021			2020
Domestic	$	0.6		$	(9.5	)
Foreign		(0.3	)		(0.1	)
Total	$	0.3		$	(9.6	)

The income tax benefit (provision) for the quarters ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 was $0.3 million and ($9.6) million, respectively, reflecting an effective tax rate of (6%) and 25%, respectively. The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 was primarily due to: (i) a decrease of $0.6 million (or 15% of taxable income) for a change in state tax rate due to the Warrick Rolling Mill acquisition; (ii) a decrease of $0.4 million (or 10% of taxable income) to the valuation allowance for certain state net operating losses; and (iii) a decrease of $0.2 million (or 6% of taxable income) for the recognition of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation.

There was no material difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Our gross unrecognized benefits relating to uncertain tax positions were $4.0 million and $3.8 million at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, of which, $1.5 million would be recorded through our income tax provision and thus impact the effective tax rate at both March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, if the gross unrecognized tax benefits were to be recognized.

We do not expect our gross unrecognized tax benefits to significantly change within the next 12 months.