Note 9 - Income Taxes

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act, which has provisions that will affect 2017 and 2018, lowers the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%; eliminates the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) and changes how existing AMT credits can be realized; creates a new limitation on deductible interest expense; and changes the rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carryforwards created in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. We have made reasonable estimates of the impact of the Tax Act and recorded provisional amounts in our financial statements as of December 31, 2017. We recorded provisional tax expense for the impact of the Tax Act of approximately $1.1 million, which is primarily due to the remeasurement of federal net deferred tax assets resulting from the permanent reduction in the U.S. statutory corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Due to the complexity and timing of the Tax Act, we may make adjustments to the provisional amounts as we complete our analysis of the Tax Act and interpret additional guidance as it becomes available.

The provision (benefit) for income taxes from operations is as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Current:
Federal	$	5,080		$	6,442		$	5,833
State		89			2,030			921
		5,169			8,472			6,754
Deferred:
Federal		6,310			85			1,854
State		(2,271	)		(1,770	)		1,044
		4,039			(1,685	)		2,898
Total provision	$	9,208		$	6,787		$	9,652

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities consist of the following components (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2017			2016
Deferred income tax assets:
Workers' compensation claims liabilities	$	8,124		$	11,477
MCC accrual		3,390			4,561
Safety incentives payable		—			7,779
Deferred compensation		1,040			—
Equity based compensation		811			991
Tax effect of unrealized losses, net		523			(17	)
Alternative minimum tax credit carryforward		1,815			1,648
State credit carryforward		988			868
State loss carryforward		2,715			—
Other		354			796
		19,760			28,103
Less valuation allowance		264			216
		19,496			27,887
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Tax depreciation in excess of book depreciation		(3,220	)		(5,319	)
Tax amortization of goodwill		(9,558	)		(13,191	)
Other		(884	)		(7	)
		(13,662	)		(18,517	)
Net deferred income tax assets	$	5,834		$	9,370

The effective tax rate for operations differed from the U.S. statutory federal tax rate due to the following:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017				2016				2015
Statutory federal tax rate		35.0		%		35.0		%		35.0		%
State taxes, net of federal benefit		(4.0	)			1.1				4.3
Valuation allowance on capital loss carryforward and state tax credit carryforward		—				—				(2.1	)
Adjustment for final positions on filed returns		(1.1	)			0.2				(3.5	)
Nondeductible expenses and other, net		1.5				1.8				6.1
Federal tax-exempt interest income		—				—				(0.1	)
Federal and state tax credits		(7.7	)			(11.6	)			(14.3	)
Change in federal tax rate		3.2				—				—
Other, net		(0.1	)			—				2.1
		26.8		%		26.5		%		27.5		%

The realization of a significant portion of net deferred tax assets is based in part on our estimates of the timing of reversals of certain temporary differences and on the generation of taxable income before such reversals.

Under ASC 740, “Income Taxes,” management evaluates the realizability of the deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis under a “more-likely than not” standard. As part of this evaluation, management reviews all evidence both positive and negative to determine if a valuation allowance is needed. One component of this analysis is to determine whether the Company was in a cumulative loss position for the most recent 12 quarters. The Company was in a cumulative income position for the 12 quarters ended at both December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016.

The Company is subject to income taxes in U.S. federal and multiple state and local tax jurisdictions. The Internal Revenue Service is examining the Company’s federal tax returns for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. In the major jurisdictions where it operates, the Company is generally no longer subject to income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2011. As of December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company had no unrecognized tax benefits.

A portion of the consolidated income the Company generates is not subject to state income tax. Depending on the percentage of this income as compared to total consolidated income, the Company's state effective rate could fluctuate from expectations.

At December 31, 2017, the Company did not have a federal general business tax credit carry forward. The Company had an alternative minimum tax credit carry forward of approximately $1.8 million which will not expire until utilized or refunded.

At December 31, 2017, the Company had state net operating loss carry forwards of approximately $39.7 million, which begin to expire in tax years ending on or after December 31, 2025, unless utilized.