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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
Deferred income taxes are provided to reflect the future tax consequences or benefits of differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their reported amounts in the financial statements using enacted tax rates.  
The following is an analysis of the consolidated income tax provision (benefit):
Year Ended December 31,
202120202019
(In thousands)
Current - Federal$— $— $— 
Current - State14,968 (154)(223)
Deferred - Federal(16,721)(12,037)27,550 
Deferred - State13,156 2,981 476 
$11,403 $(9,210)$27,803 
In recording deferred income tax assets, the Company considers whether it is more likely than not that its deferred income tax assets will be realized in the future. The ultimate realization of deferred income tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those deferred income tax assets would be deductible. The Company believes that after considering all the available objective evidence, historical and prospective, with greater weight given to historical evidence, management is not able to determine that it is more likely than not that all of its deferred tax assets will be realized. As a result, the Company established valuation allowances for its deferred tax assets and U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards that are not expected to be utilized due to the uncertainty of generating taxable income prior to the expiration of the carryforward periods. The Company will continue to assess the valuation allowances against deferred tax assets considering all available information obtained in future periods.
The tax effects of significant temporary differences representing the net deferred tax liabilities were as follows:
As of December 31,
20212020
(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Interest expense limitation$103,771 $55,026 
Net operating loss carryforwards53,112 59,335 
Unrealized hedging losses37,953 10,452 
Asset retirement obligation4,312 4,061 
Other7,771 5,661 
206,919 134,535 
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets(46,474)(15,964)
Deferred tax assets160,445 118,571 
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment(340,722)(283,959)
Bond discount(9,954)(30,591)
Other(7,186)(4,604)
Deferred tax liabilities(357,862)(319,154)
Net deferred tax liability$(197,417)$(200,583)
The difference between the customary rate of 21% and the effective tax rate on income (losses) is due to the following:
Year Ended December 31,
202120202019
(In thousands)
Tax at statutory rate$(48,368)$(12,941)$26,185 
Tax effect of:
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets30,504 (919)(494)
State income taxes, net of federal benefit28,117 3,746 (499)
Nondeductible transaction costs— — 1,417 
Nondeductible stock-based compensation1,825 1,109 886 
Other(675)(205)308 
Total$11,403 $(9,210)$27,803 
Year Ended December 31,
202120202019
Tax at statutory rate21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
Tax effect of:
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets(13.3)1.5 (0.4)
State income taxes, net of federal benefit(12.2)(6.1)(0.4)
Nondeductible transaction costs— — 1.1 
Nondeductible stock-based compensation(0.8)(1.8)0.7 
Other0.3 0.3 0.3 
Effective tax rate(5.0)%14.9 %22.3 %
At December 31, 2021, Comstock had the following carryforwards available to reduce future income taxes:
Types of CarryforwardYears of
Expiration
Carryforward		Amount
(In thousands)
Net operating loss – U.S. federal2022-2037$899,953 
Net operating loss – U.S. federalUnlimited$6,627 
Net operating loss – state taxesUnlimited$1,461,613 
Interest expense – U.S. federalUnlimited$494,147 
Interest expense – state taxesUnlimited$215,349 
The Company's ability to use net operating losses ("NOLs") generated before its ownership change in 2018 to reduce taxable income is generally limited to an annual amount based on the fair market value of its stock immediately prior to the ownership change multiplied by the long-term tax-exempt interest rate. The Company's NOLs are estimated to be limited to $3.3 million a year as a result of this limitation. In addition to this limitation, IRC Section 382 provides that a corporation with a net unrealized built-in gain immediately before an ownership change may increase its limitation by the amount of built-in gain recognized during a recognition period, which is generally the five-year period immediately following an ownership change. Based on the fair market value of the Company's common stock immediately prior to the ownership change, Comstock believes that it has a net unrealized built-in gain which will increase the Section 382 limitation during the five-year recognition period by $117.0 million.
NOLs that exceed the Section 382 limitation in any year continue to be allowed as carry forwards until they expire and can be used to offset taxable income for years within the carryover period subject to the limitation in each year. NOLs incurred prior to 2018 generally have a 20-year life until they expire. NOLs generated in 2018 and after would be carried forward indefinitely. Comstock's use of new NOLs arising after the date of an ownership change would not be affected by the 382 limitation. If the Company does not generate a sufficient level of taxable income prior to the expiration of the pre-2018 NOL carry-forward periods, then it will lose the ability to apply those NOLs as offsets to future taxable income. The Company estimates that $834.6 million of the U.S. federal NOL carryforwards and $1.3 billion of the estimated state NOL carryforwards will expire unused. 
The Company's federal income tax returns for the years subsequent to December 31, 2016 remain subject to examination. The Company's income tax returns in major state income tax jurisdictions remain subject to examination for various periods subsequent to December 31, 2018. The Company currently believes that its significant filing positions are highly certain and that all of its other significant income tax filing positions and deductions would be sustained upon audit or the final resolution would not have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements. Therefore, the Company has not established any significant reserves for uncertain tax positions.