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Accounting For Income Taxes | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] |
Accounting for Income Taxes | NOTE 12. ACCOUNTING FOR INCOME TAXES Income Tax Expense Income tax expense consisted of the following for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Current income tax expense (benefit) |  | $ | (37,913 | ) |  | $ | 16,276 |  |  | $ | 17,490 |
Deferred income tax expense |  |  | 44,964 |  |  |  | 15,098 |  |  |  | 8,570 |
Total income tax expense |  | $ | 7,051 |  |  | $ | 31,374 |  |  | $ | 26,060 |
State income taxes do not represent a significant portion of total income tax expense on the Consolidated Statements of Income for any periods presented. A reconciliation of federal income taxes derived from statutory federal tax rate of 21 percent applied to income before income taxes as set forth in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income is as follows for the years ended December 31 (dollars in thousands):
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Federal income taxes at statutory rates |  | $ | 28,673 |  |  |  | 21.0 | % |  | $ | 47,909 |  |  |  | 21.0 | % |  | $ | 34,158 |  |  |  | 21.0 | %
Increase (decrease) in tax resulting from: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Tax effect of regulatory treatment of utility plant differences |  |  | (12,893 | ) |  |  | (9.4 | ) |  |  | (9,967 | ) |  |  | (4.3 | ) |  |  | (8,153 | ) |  |  | (5.0 | )
State income tax expense |  |  | 814 |  |  |  | 0.6 |  |  |  | 1,465 |  |  |  | 0.6 |  |  |  | 1,191 |  |  |  | 0.7 |
Acquisition costs |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (1,712 | ) |  |  | (0.7 | ) |  |  | 329 |  |  |  | 0.2 |
Non-plant excess deferred turnaround |  |  | (8,476 | ) |  |  | (6.2 | ) |  |  | (5,690 | ) |  |  | (2.5 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Tax loss on sale of METALfx |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | (1,272 | ) |  |  | (0.6 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Customer refunds related to prior years at 35 percent |  |  | (1,189 | ) |  |  | (0.9 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | — |
Other |  |  | 122 |  |  |  | 0.1 |  |  |  | 641 |  |  |  | 0.3 |  |  |  | (1,465 | ) |  |  | (0.9 | )
Total income tax expense |  | $ | 7,051 |  |  |  | 5.2 | % |  | $ | 31,374 |  |  |  | 13.8 | % |  | $ | 26,060 |  |  |  | 16.0 | %
Deferred Income Taxes Deferred income taxes 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 and tax credit carryforwards. The total net deferred income tax liability consisted of the following as of December 31 (dollars in thousands):
|  | 2020 |  |  | 2019 |
Deferred income tax assets: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Regulatory liabilities |  | $ | 179,871 |  |  | $ | 181,455 |
Tax credits and NOL carryforwards |  |  | 57,516 |  |  |  | 22,331 |
Provisions for pensions |  |  | 37,501 |  |  |  | 41,648 |
Other |  |  | 42,641 |  |  |  | 36,542 |
Total gross deferred income tax assets |  |  | 317,529 |  |  |  | 281,976 |
Valuation allowances for deferred tax assets |  |  | (10,021 | ) |  |  | (16,551 | )
Total deferred income tax assets after valuation allowances |  |  | 307,508 |  |  |  | 265,425 |
Deferred income tax liabilities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Utility property, plant, and equipment |  |  | 666,639 |  |  |  | 581,387 |
Regulatory assets |  |  | 232,697 |  |  |  | 210,231 |
Other |  |  | 2,884 |  |  |  | 2,320 |
Total deferred income tax liabilities |  |  | 902,220 |  |  |  | 793,938 |
Net long-term deferred income tax liability |  | $ | 594,712 |  |  | $ | 528,513 |
The presentation of the December 31, 2019 deferred income tax assets and liabilities has been changed to reflect the group balances based on balance sheet captions of the underlying deferred tax. The realization of deferred income tax assets is dependent upon the ability to generate taxable income in future periods. The Company evaluated available evidence supporting the realization of its deferred income tax assets and determined it is more likely than not that deferred income tax assets will be realized. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had $18.3 million of state tax credit carryforwards. Of the total amount, the Company believes that it is more likely than not that it will only be able to utilize $8.6 million of the state tax credits. As such, the Company has recorded a valuation allowance of $9.7 million against the state tax credit carryforwards and reflected the net amount of $8.6 million as an asset as of December 31, 2020. State tax credits expire from 2021 to 2034. Status of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and State Examinations The Company and its eligible subsidiaries file consolidated federal income tax returns. All tax years after 2016 are open for an IRS tax examination. The Company also files state income tax returns in certain jurisdictions, including Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska. Subsidiaries are charged or credited with the tax effects of their operations on a stand-alone basis. The Idaho State Tax Commission is currently reviewing tax years 2014 through 2017. All tax years after 2016 are open for examination in Montana and Oregon, and all tax years after 2017 are open for examination in Idaho. The Company believes that any open tax years for federal or state income taxes will not result in adjustments that would be significant to the consolidated financial statements.

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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/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 21 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32857-109319 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (SAB Topic 11.C) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116825942&loc=d3e330215-122817 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 17 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32809-109319 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 6.I.5.Q1) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116825942&loc=d3e330036-122817 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 14 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32705-109319 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 270 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6424409&loc=d3e44925-109338 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144680 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 30 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6424122&loc=d3e41874-109331 + Details
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