For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company recorded income tax expense of $3.1 million (2020 — $15.5 million). The Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 of (41.1)% differs from the Canadian statutory tax rate of 26.2% primarily due to the fact that the Company recorded an additional $7.0 million valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in jurisdictions where management could not reliably forecast that future tax liabilities would arise, primarily due to the uncertainties around the long-term impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Accordingly, the tax benefit associated with the current period losses in these jurisdictions is not ultimately reflected in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. Also impacting the Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 are jurisdictional tax rate differences, including a difference related to the gain on the sale of the Maoyan investment (see Note 16), as well as changes in estimated contingent liabilities related to the resolution of various tax examinations.

In the first quarter of 2020, management completed a reassessment of its strategy with respect to the most efficient means of deploying the Company’s capital resources globally. Based on the results of this reassessment, management concluded that the historical earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries in excess of amounts required to sustain business operations would no longer be indefinitely reinvested. As a result, in the first quarter of 2020, the Company recognized a deferred tax liability of $19.7 million for the estimated applicable foreign withholding taxes associated with these historical earnings, which will become payable upon the repatriation of any such earnings.

As of March 31, 2021, the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets include net deferred income tax assets of $18.3 million, net of a valuation allowance of $38.3 million (December 31, 2020 — $18.0 million, net of a valuation allowance of $28.8 million). The $9.5 million valuation allowance recorded in the current period is reflected within Income Tax Expense in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations ($7.0 million) and within Shareholder’s Equity on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets ($2.5 million). The valuation allowance recorded against the Company’s deferred tax assets is primarily the result of uncertainties related to the long-term impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The utilization of the Company’s deferred tax assets is dependent on having a sufficient level of future tax liabilities, such as taxable income, in the jurisdictions where the deferred tax assets relate. Accordingly, the net amount recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets relies on management’s projections of future taxable income. The valuation allowance is expected to reverse at the point in time when management determines it is more likely than not that the Company will incur sufficient tax liabilities to allow it to utilize the deferred tax assets against which the valuation allowance is recorded. However, as discussed in Note 1, should actual results differ from management’s projections of future taxable income, an increased valuation allowance may be required. Despite the valuation allowance recorded against its deferred tax assets, the Company remains entitled to benefit from tax attributes which currently have a valuation allowance applied to them.

The income tax (expense) benefit related to the following items included in Other Comprehensive Loss are:

	Three Months Ended
		March 31,
(In thousands of U.S. Dollars)		2021			2020
Unrealized change in cash flow hedging instruments		$	(77	)	$	749
Realized change in cash flow hedging instruments upon settlement			60			(94	)
Reclassification of unrealized change in ineffective cash flow hedging instruments			6			—
Defined benefit and postretirement benefit plans			(13	)		40
		$	(24	)	$	695