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Income Taxes
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, income tax expense was $4,561 and $4,127, respectively. Income tax expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 was $223 and $3,658, respectively. The effective consolidated income tax rates were 11% and 1% for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and 6% and 8% for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The higher effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2023 was primarily due to the tax benefit relating to a tax accounting method change recorded in the third quarter 2022. There was no such benefit recorded in the third quarter of 2023. The lower effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 was primarily due to higher flow-through tax benefits.
In April 2023, the Internal Revenue Service issued additional tax guidance that has allowed the company to revisit certain historical income tax reserves. Pursuant to the issuance of this guidance, which provided additional clarification regarding some of the uncertain tax areas, the company re-evaluated the risk relating to repair deductions. The result of the analysis led to a partial release of an uncertain tax position reserve of $3,087 which was recorded in the second quarter of 2023. The release relates to repairs expenditures that are more likely than not to be sustained on audit.
SJW Group had unrecognized tax benefits, before the impact of deductions of state taxes, excluding interest and penalties, of approximately $5,981 and $9,004 as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.
SJW Group currently does not expect uncertain tax positions to change significantly over the next 12 months, except in the case of a lapse of the statute of limitations.