12. Income Taxes

The Company has deferred tax assets and liabilities that reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Deferred tax assets are subject to periodic recoverability assessments. Realization of the deferred tax assets, net of deferred tax liabilities is principally dependent upon achievement of projected future taxable income. Based upon the level of historical taxable income and projections for future taxable income over the periods in which the deferred tax assets are deductible, management believes it is more-likely-than-not that the Company will realize the benefits of these deductible differences. The Company has no valuation allowance at December 31, 2018 and 2017.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was signed into law. For businesses, the Act reduces the corporate federal tax rate from a maximum of 35% to a flat 21% rate. The rate reduction took effect on January 1, 2018. The Company concluded that the Act caused the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities to be revalued. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. As changes in tax laws or rates are enacted, deferred tax assets and liabilities are adjusted though income tax expense. The Company’s net deferred tax liability was revalued as of December 22, 2017. The Company recorded a $10.7 million income tax benefit related to the revaluation of its net deferred tax liabilities. Excluding this income tax benefit in 2017, our effective tax rate would have been 32.1%. Due to the enactment date and complexities of the new tax law, the regulations may have not been fully interpreted by the federal and state taxing authorities, thus there may be additional impacts to the tax provision that may not have been included herein.

The components of income tax expense (benefit) are as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Current:
Federal	$	60,764	$	76,966	$	64,006
State		8,732		8,589		4,831
		69,496		85,555		68,837
Deferred:
Federal		(10,708)		(6,189)		7,961
State		(799)		843		891
		(11,507)		(5,346)		8,852
Tax expense recorded as an increase of paid-in capital		—		—		9,921
	$	57,989	$	80,209	$	87,610

A reconciliation of income tax computed at the U.S. statutory rate to the effective income tax rate is as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	4.0		3.2		3.2
State tax credits, net of federal effect	(1.0)		(0.7)		(1.5)
Excess tax benefits	(3.7)		(5.8)		—
Deferred tax revaluation (Federal Rate change)	—		(3.7)		—
Nondeductible expenses	0.4		—		0.2
Other	(0.5)		0.3		0.2
Effective income tax rate	20.2	%	28.3	%	37.1	%

Significant components of the Company’s deferred income tax assets and liabilities, included in Deferred income taxes, non-current on the consolidated balance sheets are as follows:


	As of December 31,
	2018		2017
Deferred tax assets:
Share-based compensation	$	3,030	$	4,201
Employee compensation		780		950
Allowance for doubtful accounts		—		1,685
Deferred tuition revenue		—		1,294
Deferred scholarship		—		618
Intangibles		—		590
State taxes		879		985
Other		386		526
Deferred tax assets		5,075		10,849

Deferred tax liability:
Property and equipment		(10,778)		(28,028)
Goodwill		(762)		(762)
Other		—		(421)
Deferred tax liability		(11,540)		(29,211)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(6,465)	$	(18,362)

The net deferred tax liability on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet is comprised of the following:


	As of December 31,
	2018		2017
Deferred income taxes, current	$	1,871	$	5,214
Deferred income taxes, non-current		(8,336)		(23,576)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(6,465)	$	(18,362)

The Company recognizes the impact of a tax position in its financial statements if that position is more-likely-than-not to be sustained on audit, based on the technical merits of the position. The Company discloses all unrecognized tax benefits, which includes the reserves recorded for uncertain tax positions on filed tax returns and the unrecognized portion of affirmative claims. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. Unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were not significant.

The Company is subject to taxation in the United States, in states with an income tax and in several local jurisdictions. The Company is currently under audit by various state taxing authorities. The Company does not anticipate any material adjustments as a result of these audits. As of December 31, 2018, the earliest tax year still subject to examination for federal and state purposes is 2015 and 2014, respectively.