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INCOME TAXES
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
NOTE 8: INCOME TAXES
The differences between the Company’s provisions for Income Taxes and the provisions calculated at the statutory federal tax rate, expressed in percentages, are shown in the following table:
 
 
  
Nine Months Ended September 30,
 
 
  
2022
 
 
2021
 
Statutory Federal Income Tax Rate
   
 
21
% 
     21 % 
Income Tax Effects of:
                 
State Income Taxes, net
   
 
6
 
     6  
Utility Plant Differences
   
 
(6
) 
     (3 ) 
    
 
 
    
 
 
  
Effective Income Tax Rate
   
 
21
%
 
     24 % 
Under the Company’s Tax Sharing Agreement (the Agreement) which was approved upon the formation of Unitil as a public utility holding company, the Company files consolidated Federal and State tax returns and Unitil Corporation and each of its utility operating subsidiaries recognize the results of their operations in its tax returns as if it were a stand-alone taxpayer. The Agreement provides that the Company will account for income taxes in compliance with U.S. GAAP and regulatory accounting principles. The Company has evaluated its tax positions at September 30, 2022 in accordance with the FASB Codification, and has concluded that no adjustment for recognition,
de-recognition,
settlement or foreseeable future events to any tax liabilities or assets as defined by the FASB Codification is required. The Company remains subject to examination by Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire tax authorities for the tax periods ended December 31, 2021; December 31, 2020; and December 31, 2019.
Income tax filings for the year ended December 31, 2021 have been filed with the IRS, Massachusetts Department of Revenue, the Maine Revenue Service, and the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration. In the Company’s federal tax returns for the year ended December 31, 2021, which were filed with the IRS in October 2022, the Company utilized federal Net Operating Loss Carryforward (NOLC) assets of $2.4 
million and has approximatel
y
$5.8 
million of NOLC assets available to offset 2022 taxable income. In addition, at September 30, 2022, the Company had
$1.0 million of cumulative state tax credit carryforwards to offset future income taxes payable. If unused, the Company’s state tax credit carryforwards will begin to expire in 2027.
In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act included several tax changes as part of its economic package. These changes principally related to expanded Net Operating Loss carryback periods, increases to interest deductibility limitations, and accelerated Alternative Minimum Tax refunds. Additionally, the CARES Act enacted the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) to incentivize companies to retain employees. The ERC is a 
50
% credit on employee wages for employees that are retained and cannot perform their job duties at 
100
% capacity as a result of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
In December 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) was signed into law. The CAA included additional funding through tax credits as part of its economic package for 2021. These changes include the temporary removal of deduction limitations on business meals through December 2022 and additional funding for the ERC with expanded benefits extended through June 30, 2021. The expanded ERC is a 70% credit on employee wages for employees that are retained and cannot perform their job duties at 100% capacity as a result of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
In March 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. The ARPA included certain provisions that provide economic relief for the
ongoing COVID-19
pandemic, such as extending the ERC through December 31, 2021, and other future governmental revenue producing provisions, such as expanding the scope for deduction limitations on executive compensation in future years.
In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) was signed into law. The IRA includes new taxes on corporations, such as the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and the Excise Tax on Repurchase of Corporate Stock. The AMT is equal to 15% of a corporation’s adjusted financial statement income (AFSI) and applies to companies that have a 3 year average AFSI of greater than $1 billion. The IRA also extends and modifies certain tax incentives for investments in clean and renewable energy projects.
The Company has evaluated each of the CARES, CAA, ARPA, and IRA provisions and determined that they do not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements as of September 30, 2022.
In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (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 FASB Codification Topic 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. 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, FERC guidance and IRS normalization rules, the benefit of protected excess ADIT amounts will be subject to flow back to customers in future utility rates according to the Average Rate Assumption Method (ARAM). ARAM reconciles excess ADIT at the reversal rate of the underlying book/tax temporary timing differences. The Company estimates the ARAM flow back period for protected and unprotected excess ADIT to be between fifteen and twenty years over the remaining life of the related utility plant. Subject to regulatory approval, the Company expects to flow back to customers a net $47.1 million of protected excess ADIT created as a result of the lowering of the statutory tax rate by the TCJA over periods estimated to be fifteen to twenty years. As of September 30, 2022, the Company flowed back $5.4 million to customers in its Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and federal jurisdictions.