12. INCOME TAXES

Pretax income from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $36.3 million and pretax loss from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was $31.4 million and $94.4 million, respectively.

The provision for (benefit from) income taxes from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 consists of the following (dollars in thousands):

	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Current provision (benefit)
Federal	$	-		$	-		$	(364	)
State and local		1,870			704			(2,279	)
Total current provision (benefit)		1,870			704			(2,643	)
Deferred provision (benefit)
Federal		67,936			(16,247	)		(126,465	)
State and local		(2,681	)		(1,007	)		(18,346	)
Total deferred provision (benefit)		65,255			(17,254	)		(144,811	)
Total provision for (benefit from) income taxes	$	67,125		$	(16,550	)	$	(147,454	)

A reconciliation of the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate to our effective income tax rate for continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 is as follows:

	For the Year Ended December 31,
	2017				2016				2015
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate		35.0		%		(35.0	)	%		(35.0	)	%
State and local income taxes		2.3				(3.4	)			(2.7	)
Stock-based compensation		3.2				-				-
Valuation allowance		0.3				0.5				0.6
Valuation allowance release		-				-				(116.3	)
Federal audit settlement		-				(6.7	)			-
State audit settlement		(4.6	)			-				-
Federal income tax rate change		145.3				-				-
Worthless stock		-				(11.9	)			-
Tax credits		(0.7	)			(0.4	)			(0.2	)
Other		4.4				4.1				(2.5	)
Effective income tax rate		185.2		%		(52.8	)	%		(156.1	)	%

In December 2017, comprehensive tax legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) was enacted in the United States. Among other things, the TCJA reduces the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 2018. Due to the enactment of TCJA, the effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased by 145.3% as a result of revaluing our net deferred tax assets and net state unrecognized tax positions to reflect the new tax rate for future periods. This revaluation increased tax expense by $52.7 million. We have included all material impacts of the TCJA that relate to the year ending December 31, 2017. We are still evaluating various impacts of the enacted legislation and these impacts may result in additional immaterial adjustments. The 2017 effective tax rate also includes a $1.7 million net benefit associated with the results of an Illinois income tax audit covering the years ended December 31, 2012 through December 31, 2014 and amended return filings, which decreased the effective tax rate by 4.6%. Additionally, for the year ended December 31, 2017, we recognized a $1.1 million unfavorable adjustment associated with the adoption of ASU 2016-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which increased the effective tax rate by 3.2%. The effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2016 included a $3.7 million net benefit for a worthless stock deduction, which decreased the effective tax rate by 11.9%. The 2016 effective tax rate also included a $2.1 million favorable tax adjustment related to the closure of a federal income tax audit covering the years ended December 31, 2013 through December 31, 2014, which decreased the effective tax rate by 6.7%. The effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2015 benefitted by 116.3% due to a valuation allowance release of $109.8 million.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 is as follows (dollars in thousands):

	2017			2016			2015
Gross unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of the year	$	8,132		$	7,737		$	9,318
Additions for tax positions of prior years		24			263			19
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		-			-			(20	)
Additions for tax positions related to the current year		1,625			1,247			864
Reductions due to settlements		-			-			-
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statute of limitations		(1,217	)		(1,115	)		(2,444	)
Subtotal		8,564			8,132			7,737
Interest and penalties		1,909			2,008			1,986
Total gross unrecognized tax benefits, end of the year	$	10,473		$	10,140		$	9,723

The total amount of net unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would favorably affect the effective tax rate in future periods was $8.3 million and $6.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, our short and long-term reserves, recorded within current accrued income taxes and other non-current liabilities, respectively, related to FASB’s interpretation No. 48 of ASC Topic 740-10, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes or (“FIN 48”), were $1.4 million and $7.2 million, respectively. We record interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within provision for (benefit from) income taxes on our consolidated statements of (loss) income and comprehensive (loss) income. The total amount of accrued interest and penalties resulting from such unrecognized tax benefits was $1.9 million and $2.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recognized less than $0.2 million of expense, less than $0.1 million of benefit and $0.7 million of benefit, respectively, related to interest and penalties from unrecognized tax benefits in our consolidated results of continuing operations.

CEC and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. and in various state and local jurisdictions. CEC and its subsidiaries are routinely examined by tax authorities in these jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2017, CEC had been examined by the Internal Revenue Service through our tax year ending December 31, 2014. Due to the expiration of various statutes of limitations, it is reasonably possible that CEC’s gross unrecognized tax benefits balance may change within the next twelve months by a range of zero to $2.0 million.

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities result primarily from temporary differences in the recognition of various expenses for tax and financial statement purposes, and from the recognition of the tax benefits of net operating loss carry forwards. Components of deferred income tax assets and liabilities for continuing operations as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 are as follows (dollars in thousands):

	December 31,
	2017			2016
Deferred income tax assets:
Accrued occupancy	$	5,133		$	12,973
Deferred rent obligations		1,746			6,232
Foreign tax credits		32,998			32,998
Valuation allowance foreign tax credits		(32,998	)		(32,998	)
Compensation and employee benefits		8,520			15,349
Tax net operating loss carry forwards		71,911			74,315
Valuation allowance		(14,561	)		(12,415	)
Allowance for doubtful accounts		2,943			4,773
Covenant not-to-compete		3			7
Accrued settlements and legal		2,065			13,231
Deferred compensation		890			1,223
Accrued restructuring and severance		394			2,561
Equity method for investments		394			669
General business tax credits		1,192			903
Illinois edge credits		2,960			4,335
Valuation allowance edge credits		(2,960	)		(4,335	)
Depreciation and amortization		18,223			40,960
Other		491			797
Total deferred income tax assets		99,344			161,578
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Other		1,260			3,306
Total deferred income tax liabilities		1,260			3,306
Net deferred income tax assets	$	98,084		$	158,272

As of December 31, 2017, the Company has a gross deferred tax asset before valuation allowance of $441.0 million and a gross deferred tax liability of $5.3 million. As of December 31, 2016, the Company had a gross deferred tax asset before valuation allowance of $486.2 million and a gross deferred tax liability of $8.9 million.

As of December 31, 2017, we have federal net operating loss carry forwards of approximately $215.5 million, available to offset future taxable income, which do not begin expiring until 2034 and are fully expired in 2037. Additionally, we have $33.0 million of foreign tax credits which expire during 2022 and 2023, and we continue to maintain a full valuation allowance against the foreign tax credits deferred tax balance. We have state net operating loss (“NOL”) carry forwards of approximately $456.7 million, which expire between 2018 and 2037. Of this amount, approximately $208.1 million relates to separate state NOL carryforwards and $33.0 million relates to combined state NOL carryforwards, which we anticipate will not be utilized due to the teach-out of the schools in the applicable combined filing jurisdictions. We also have Illinois edge credits of $3.7 million gross available to offset future Illinois state income tax, which expire between 2018 and 2019. Valuation allowances have been established against the full amounts of the deferred tax balances for the separate state NOL, combined state NOL’s referenced above, and the Illinois edge credits.

In assessing the continued need for a valuation allowance, we consider both positive and negative evidence related to the likelihood of realization of the deferred tax assets. Topic 740 provides that important factors in determining whether a deferred tax asset will be realized are whether there has been a strong earnings history exclusive of the loss that created the future deductible amount coupled with evidence indicating that the loss is an aberration rather than a continuing condition and whether sufficient taxable income is expected in future years in order to utilize the deferred tax asset. In evaluating the realizability of deferred income tax assets, we consider, among other things, historical levels of taxable income along with possible sources of future taxable income, which include: the expected timing of the reversals of existing temporary reporting differences, the existence of taxable income in prior carryback years, the expected impact of tax planning strategies that may be implemented to prevent the potential loss of future income tax benefits and expected future taxable income. Changes in, among other things, income tax legislation, statutory income tax rates, or future taxable income levels could materially impact our valuation of income tax assets and liabilities and could cause our income tax provision to vary significantly among financial reporting periods. If, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not the deferred tax assets will not be realized, we record a valuation allowance, or release all or a portion of the valuation allowance if it is more likely than not the deferred tax assets are expected to be realized. The weight given to the positive and negative evidence is commensurate with the extent to which the evidence may be objectively verified. A high degree of judgment is required to determine if, and the extent to which, valuation allowances should be recorded against deferred tax assets.

As of December 31, 2015, the Company determined that it was more likely than not that we will realize most of our deferred tax assets and, as a result, reversed a significant portion of our valuation allowance in the fourth quarter of 2015. A valuation allowance was maintained with respect to our foreign tax credits, separate state net operating losses and Illinois edge credits. After considering both positive and negative evidence related to the realization of our deferred tax assets, we have determined that it is necessary to continue to record the valuation allowance against these items as well as the portion of the combined state net operating losses, which the Company believes will not be utilized. As of December 31, 2017, the total valuation allowance attributable to our foreign tax credits, state net operating losses and Illinois edge credits is $50.5 million. After a review of the recently enacted TCJA, the Company concluded it was not more likely than not for the deferred tax assets related to the foreign tax credits to be realized and maintained the valuation allowance with respect to these assets. The separate state NOLs can generally only be used by the originating entity and relate to entities announced for teach-out. Since the future operating income (loss) of these entities is restricted to the teach-out period, the more likely than not threshold was not reached with respect to this portion of the deferred tax assets. Similarly, the Company determined a valuation allowance was needed with respect to the portion of the combined state net operating losses which will likely go unused due to the teach-out of the schools located in the applicable combined filing jurisdictions. The Illinois edge credits expire between 2018 and 2019. Given the limited life of these credits and the need to first exhaust an available NOL carryforward, the valuation allowance pertaining to this item was also not released. The amount of the deferred tax asset considered realizable, however, could be adjusted if estimates of future taxable income during the carryforward period are increased or decreased, and additional weight may be given to subjective evidence such as our projections for growth. We will continue to evaluate our valuation allowance in future years for any change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the deferred tax asset.