Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 5 Income Taxes

The effective tax rate on Income before income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, was 5.0% and 31.4%, respectively. The lower effective tax rate in 2020 as compared to 2019 is due primarily to the income tax benefits of the CARES Act enacted on March 27, 2020.

The CARES Act provides retroactive eligibility of bonus depreciation on qualified improvement property put into service after December 31, 2017 and a 5-year carryback of net operating losses generated in years 2018-2020. As the statutory federal tax rate applicable to certain years within the carryback period is 35%, carryback to those years provides a tax benefit in excess of the current federal statutory rate of 21%, resulting in a reduction of income tax expense.