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Income Tax Expense | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2011
Income Tax Expense [Abstract] |
Income Tax Expense | NOTE 9. INCOME TAX EXPENSE
| Quarter Ended | Six Months Ended
| June 30, | June 30,
| 2011 | 2010 | 2011 | 2010
Millions |  |  |  |
Current Tax Expense (Benefit) |  |  |  |
Federal (a) | - | - | - | $7.2
State (a) | $0.1 | $(1.9) | $0.2 | (1.0)
Total Current Tax Expense (Benefit) | 0.1 | (1.9) | 0.2 | 6.2
Deferred Tax Expense |  |  |  |
Federal (b) | 4.0 | 8.2 | 10.8 | 18.0
State (b) | - | 3.3 | 1.5 | 5.5
Deferred Tax Credits | (0.3) | (0.2) | (0.5) | (0.4)
Total Deferred Tax Expense | 3.7 | 11.3 | 11.8 | 23.1
Total Income Tax Expense | $3.8 | $9.4 | $12.0 | $29.3
(a) | For the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011, the federal and state current tax expense was affected by a net operating loss (NOL) which resulted primarily from the bonus depreciation provision of tax legislation passed in 2010. The 2011 federal and state NOL will be carried forward to offset future taxable income. For the six months ended June 30, 2010, we recorded federal current tax expense, as the 2010 tax legislation allowing bonus depreciation was not enacted until the third quarter of 2010. The state current benefit for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010, was due to the completion of a state audit and state renewable tax credits.
(b) | The quarter ended June 30, 2011, includes a $2.9 million income tax benefit related to the MPUC approval of our request to defer the retail portion of the tax charge taken in 2010 resulting from PPACA. The six months ended June 30, 2011, includes the second quarter item above and the reversal in the first quarter of 2011 of a $6.2 million deferred tax liability related to a revenue receivable that Minnesota Power agreed to forgo as part of a stipulation and settlement agreement in its 2010 rate case. Included in the six months ended June 30, 2010, is a charge of $4.0 million as a result of PPACA (See Note 5. Regulatory Matters).
For the six months ended June 30, 2011, the effective tax rate was 18.2 percent (41.0 percent for the six months ended June 30, 2010). The effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2011, was lowered by 4.4 percent due to the non-recurring income tax benefit related to the MPUC approval of our request to defer the retail portion of the tax charge taken in 2010 resulting from PPACA and by 9.4 percent due to the non-recurring reversal of the deferred tax liability related to a revenue receivable that Minnesota Power agreed to forgo as part of a stipulation and settlement agreement in its 2010 rate case. The effective tax rate deviated from the statutory rate of approximately 41 percent primarily due to non-recurring items discussed above, deductions for AFUDC-Equity, investment tax credits, renewable tax credits and depletion. Uncertain Tax Positions. As of June 30, 2011, we had gross unrecognized tax benefits of $11.3 million. Of this total, $0.6 million represents the amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would favorably impact the effective income tax rate. We expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of June 30, 2011, will change by an immaterial amount in the next 12 months.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 136, 172 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph h -Article 4 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32559-109319 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32718-109319 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6881521&loc=d3e23780-122690 + Details
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