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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
We estimate our annual effective tax rate (AETR) for continuing operations in recording our interim quarterly income tax provision for the various jurisdictions in which we operate. The tax effects of statutory rate changes, significant unusual or infrequently occurring items, and certain changes in the assessment of the realizability of deferred tax assets are excluded from the determination of our estimated AETR as such items are recognized as discrete items in the quarter in which they occur.
Our estimated AETR for the Current Quarter is 0.1%. The impairments of long-lived assets recorded during the first quarter of 2020 (see Note 13 for additional information on the impairments) resulted in the deferred tax position attributable to Texas reverting back to a net asset before valuation allowance. As of December 31, 2019, we reported Texas as the only tax jurisdiction being in a net deferred tax liability position and recorded an associated income tax expense of $10 million. The $10 million of net deferred tax liability attributable to Texas is being reversed through the determination of the estimated AETR for the year ended December 31, 2020. The estimated AETR is otherwise low as a result of projecting a full valuation allowance for the year with only the $10 million going through the estimated AETR as a deferred tax benefit.
Based on all available positive and negative evidence, including projections of future taxable income, we believe it is more likely than not that our deferred tax assets will not be realized, including the deferred tax assets attributable to Texas. A significant piece of objectively verifiable negative evidence evaluated is the cumulative loss incurred over the rolling thirty-six-month period ended September 30, 2020. Such evidence limits our ability to consider various forms of subjective positive evidence, such as any projections of future growth and earnings. However, should we return to a level of sustained profitability, consideration will need to be given to projections of future taxable income to determine whether such projections provide an adequate source of taxable income for the realization of our deferred tax assets, primarily federal and state net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards. A full valuation allowance was recorded against our net deferred tax asset position for federal and state purposes as of September 30, 2020 and, with the exception of Texas, which was in a net deferred tax liability position, as of December 31, 2019.
On February 1, 2019, we completed the acquisition of WildHorse Resource Development Corporation (“WildHorse”). For federal income tax purposes, the transaction (the “WildHorse Merger”) qualified as a tax-free merger
under Section 368 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (the “Code”) and, as a result, we acquired carryover tax basis in WildHorse’s assets and liabilities. We recorded a net deferred tax liability of $314 million as part of the business combination accounting for WildHorse. As a consequence of having a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax asset, a partial release of the valuation allowance was recorded as a discrete income tax benefit of $314 million through the condensed consolidated statement of operations in the first quarter of 2019. The net deferred tax liability acquired includes deferred tax liabilities on plant, property and equipment and prepaid compensation totaling $401 million, partially offset by deferred tax assets totaling $87 million relating to federal NOL carryforwards, disallowed business interest carryforwards and certain other deferred tax assets. These carryforwards will be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Code of approximately $61 million. We determined that no separate valuation allowances were required to be established through business combination accounting against any of the individual deferred tax assets acquired.
We are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income and capital taxes in various state and local jurisdictions in which we operate. As a result of having a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax asset position, we did not record an income tax provision for the Current Quarter. However, we recorded an income tax benefit of $13 million for the Current Period, which includes the impact of Texas reverting back to a net deferred tax asset position as well as recording a benefit for amounts previously sequestered from refunds of corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT) credits.
Our ability to utilize NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes to reduce future federal taxable income and federal income tax is subject to various limitations under Section 382 of the Code. The utilization of these attributes may be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Code should transactions involving our equity, including issuances of our stock or the sale or exchange of our stock by certain shareholders, result in a cumulative shift of more than 50% in the beneficial ownership of our stock during any three-year testing period (an “Ownership Change”). (For this purpose, “stock” includes certain preferred stock.) Some states impose similar limitations on tax attribute utilization upon experiencing an Ownership Change. As of September 30, 2020, we do not believe that an Ownership Change has occurred that would subject us to an annual limitation on the utilization of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes; however, our current ownership shift remains at greater than 40%.
On April 23, 2020, our Board of Directors approved the adoption of a rights plan that is designed to protect the availability of NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes by reducing the likelihood of an Ownership Change prior to confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court (see Note 9 for additional information on the rights plan). Further, as part of the Chapter 11 Cases, the Bankruptcy Court has granted a first day motion for entry of an order seeking relief that will enable the Company to closely monitor certain transfers of beneficial ownership of our stock so as to be in a position to prevent such transfers with the purpose of avoiding an Ownership Change prior to confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court, thereby preserving the value of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes.
Certain of the restructuring transactions contemplated by the RSA may have a material impact on the Company’s tax attributes, the full extent of which is currently unknown. Cancellation of indebtedness income resulting from such restructuring transactions may significantly reduce the Company’s tax attributes, including but not limited to NOL carryforwards. Further, the Company will experience an Ownership Change under Section 382 of the Code upon confirmation of the Plan by the Bankruptcy Court which will subject certain remaining tax attributes to an annual limitation under Section 382 of the Code. Additionally, the Company will incur significant one-time costs associated with the Plan, a material amount of which are non-deductible for tax purposes under the Code.
On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). The CARES Act provides relief to corporate taxpayers by permitting a five year carryback of NOLs incurred from 2018 through 2020, removing the 80% limitation on the utilization of certain NOLs carried forward to years beginning before January 1, 2021, increasing the 30% limitation on interest expense deductibility under Section 163(j) of the Code to 50% of adjusted taxable income for 2019 and 2020 and accelerating refunds for AMT credit carryforwards, along with a few other provisions. With respect to the Current Quarter and the Current Period, there was no net impact on our income tax provision from the enactment of the CARES Act.