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Income Taxes (Tables) | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] |
Major Jurisdictions | The following are the major jurisdictions in which Ambac and its subsidiaries operate and the earliest tax years subject to examination:
Jurisdiction | Tax Year
United States | 2010
New York State | 2013
New York City | 2013
United Kingdom | 2014
Italy | 2013
Significant Portions of Deferred Tax Liabilities and Deferred Tax Assets | The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets at June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 are presented below:
| June 30, 2017 |  | December 31, 2016
Deferred tax liabilities: |  |  |
Insurance intangible | $ | 319,260 |  |  | $ | 336,728 |
Variable interest entities | 44,654 |  |  | 46,343 |
Investments | 83,944 |  |  | 38,656 |
Unearned premiums and credit fees | 67,940 |  |  | 68,682 |
Unremitted foreign earnings | 67,715 |  |  | 30,699 |
Other | 4,195 |  |  | 4,276 |
Total deferred tax liabilities | 587,708 |  |  | 525,384 |
Deferred tax assets: |  |  |
Net operating loss and capital carryforward | 1,406,713 |  |  | 1,409,565 |
Loss reserves | 297,313 |  |  | 224,553 |
AMT Credits | 32,149 |  |  | 31,532 |
Other | 17,324 |  |  | 16,726 |
Subtotal deferred tax assets | 1,753,499 |  |  | 1,682,376 |
Valuation allowance | 1,167,657 |  |  | 1,158,712 |
Total deferred tax assets | 585,842 |  |  | 523,664 |
Net deferred tax (liability) | $ | (1,866 | ) |  | $ | (1,720 | )
Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block] | U.S. and foreign components of pre-tax income were as follows:
| Three Months Ended June 30, |  | Six Months Ended June 30,
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
U.S. | $ | (25,177 | ) |  | $ | 98,399 |  |  | $ | (217,050 | ) |  | $ | 125,899 |
Foreign | 39,169 |  |  | (36,888 | ) |  | 125,182 |  |  | (51,534 | )
Total | $ | 13,992 |  |  | $ | 61,511 |  |  | $ | (91,868 | ) |  | $ | 74,365 |
Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | The components of the provision for income taxes were as follows:
| Three Months Ended June 30, |  | Six Months Ended June 30,
| 2017 |  | 2016 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Current taxes |  |  |  |  |  |  |
U. S. federal | $ | 618 |  |  | $ | 76 |  |  | $ | 618 |  |  | $ | 76 |
U.S. state and local | (320 | ) |  | 116 |  |  | — |  |  | 237 |
Foreign | 6,584 |  |  | 2,964 |  |  | 25,845 |  |  | 6,396 |
Current taxes | 6,882 |  |  | 3,156 |  |  | 26,463 |  |  | 6,709 |
Deferred taxes |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Deferred taxes | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | (114 | )
Provision for income taxes | $ | 6,882 |  |  | $ | 3,156 |  |  | $ | 26,463 |  |  | $ | 6,595 |
Schedule of Net Operating Loss And Tax Credit Carryovers | Pursuant to the Amended TSA (as defined in Note 1. Background and Business Description to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016), to the extent Ambac Assurance generates taxable income after September 30, 2011, which is offset with "Allocated NOLs" of $3,650,000, it is obligated to make payments (“Tolling Payments”), subject to certain credits, to Ambac in accordance with the following NOL usage table, where the “Applicable Percentage” is applied to the aggregate amount of federal income tax liability that would have been paid if the Allocated NOLs were not available. NOL Usage Table
NOL Usage Tier | Allocated NOLs |  | Applicable Percentage
A | The first | $479,000 |  | 15%
B | The next | $1,057,000 | after Tier A | 40%
C | The next | $1,057,000 | after Tier B | 10%
D | The next | $1,057,000 | after Tier C | 15%

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32639-109319 + Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of income tax examinations that an enterprise is currently subject to or that have been completed in the current period typically including a description of the examination, the jurisdiction conducting the examination, the tax year(s) under examination, the likelihood of an unfavorable settlement, the range of possible losses, the liability recorded, the increase or decrease in the liability from the prior period, and any penalties and interest that have been recorded. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32718-109319 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 217 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=96868398&loc=d3e36027-109320 + Details
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