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INCOME TAXES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2018
INCOME TAXES | NOTE 8: INCOME TAXES The Company filed its tax returns for the year ended December 31, 2017 with the Internal Revenue Service in September 2018 and generated additional federal net operating loss (NOL) carryforward assets principally due to current pension deductions, tax repair deductions, tax depreciation and research and development deductions. As of September 30, 2018, the Company had recorded cumulative federal and state NOL carryforward assets of $18.2 million to offset against taxes payable in future periods. If unused, the Company’s NOL carryforward assets will begin to expire in 2029. In addition, at September 30, 2018, the Company had $3.4 million of cumulative alternative minimum tax credits, general business tax credit and other state tax credit carryforwards to offset future income taxes payable. In March 2018, Unitil Corporation received notice that its Federal Income Tax return filings for the years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016 are under examination by the IRS. Currently, the Company believes that the ultimate resolution of this examination will not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements. The Company remains subject to examination by New Hampshire tax authorities for the tax periods ended December 31, 2015; December 31, 2016; and December 31, 2017. Income tax filings for the year ended December 31, 2017 have been filed with the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. The State of Maine has concluded its review of the Company’s tax returns for December 31, 2014, December 31, 2015, and December 31, 2016 which resulted in a small additional refund to the Company. In assessing the near-term use of NOLCs and tax credits, the Company evaluates the expected level of future taxable income, available tax planning strategies, reversals of existing taxable temporary differences and taxable income available in carryback years. Based on all available evidence, both positive and negative, and the weight of that evidence to the extent such evidence can be objectively verified, the Company expects to utilize all of its NOLCs by December 31, 2020 prior to their expiration in 2029. In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which included a reduction to the corporate federal income tax rate to 21% effective January 1, 2018, was signed into law. In accordance with GAAP Accounting Standard 740, the Company revalued its Accumulated Deferred Income Taxes (ADIT) at the new 21% tax rate at which the ADIT will be reversed in future periods. The Company recorded a net Regulatory Liability in the amount of $48.9 million at December 31, 2017 as a result of the ADIT revaluation. On March 15, 2018 FERC issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in Docket No. RM18-11-000 in which FERC provided specific guidance on the flow back of excess ADIT. The amount of the reduction to ADIT that was collected from customers but is no longer payable to the IRS is excess ADIT and should be flowed back to ratepayers under general ratemaking principles. Subject to regulatory approval, the Company expects to flow back to customers a net $47.1 million of the excess ADIT created as a result of the lowering of the statutory tax rate by the TCJA. Based on communications received by the Company from its state regulators in rate cases and other regulatory proceedings in the first quarter of 2018 and as prescribed in the TCJA, the recent FERC guidance noted above and IRS normalization rules; the benefit of these excess ADIT amounts will be subject to flow back to customers in future utility rates according to the Average Rate Assumption Method (ARAM). The Company estimates the ARAM flow back period to be between fifteen and twenty years. The Company’s regulators are expected to issue ratemaking guidance in future periods that will determine the final disposition of the re-measurement of regulatory deferred tax balances. At this time, the Company has applied a reasonable interpretation of the TCJA and a reasonable estimate of the regulatory resolution. Future clarification of TCJA matters with the Company’s regulators may change the amounts estimated. In addition to the excess $47.1 million ADIT amounts the Company expects to flow through to customers in utility rates, as noted above, there was $1.8 million of excess ADIT at December 31, 2017, related to the implementation of the new federal tax rate of the TCJA, which had not been previously collected from customers through utility rates. The Company will recognize a benefit in its tax provision as the underlying book/tax temporary differences reverse in the current and future periods. The Company evaluated its tax positions at September 30, 2018 in accordance with the FASB Codification, and has concluded that no adjustment for recognition, de-recognition, settlement and foreseeable future events to any tax liabilities or assets as defined by the FASB Codification is required. The Company remains subject to examination by Federal, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire tax authorities for the tax periods ended December 31, 2015; December 31, 2016; and December 31, 2017. The Company bills its customers for sales tax in Massachusetts and Maine and consumption tax in New Hampshire. These taxes are remitted to the appropriate departments of revenue in each state and are excluded from revenues on the Company’s unaudited Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

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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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144680 + Details
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