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Income Taxes (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
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 | 2014
United Kingdom | 2015
Italy | 2014
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 December 31, 2018 and 2017 are presented below:
December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017
Deferred tax liabilities: |  |  |
Insurance intangible | $ | 150,975 |  |  | $ | 177,864 |
Debentures | — |  |  | 28,387 |
Variable interest entities | 19,051 |  |  | 22,817 |
Investments | 26,145 |  |  | 28,798 |
Unearned premiums and credit fees | 48,121 |  |  | 51,485 |
Other | 7,649 |  |  | 9,402 |
Total deferred tax liabilities | 251,941 |  |  | 318,753 |
Deferred tax assets: |  |  |
Net operating loss and capital carryforward | 718,978 |  |  | 775,917 |
Loss reserves | 227,401 |  |  | 264,624 |
Debentures | 22,564 |  |  | — |
Compensation | 9,500 |  |  | 5,585 |
Other | 1,818 |  |  | 2,140 |
Subtotal deferred tax assets | 980,261 |  |  | 1,048,266 |
Valuation allowance | 768,450 |  |  | 763,172 |
Total deferred tax assets | 211,811 |  |  | 285,094 |
Net deferred tax liability | $ | 40,130 |  |  | $ | 33,659 |
Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign [Table Text Block] | U.S. and foreign components of pre-tax income (loss) were as follows:
Year Ended December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
U.S. | $ | 264,089 |  |  | $ | (450,978 | ) |  | $ | 77,161 |
Foreign | 8,444 |  |  | 166,727 |  |  | 27,865 |
Total | $ | 272,533 |  |  | $ | (284,251 | ) |  | $ | 105,026 |
Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | he components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes were as follows:
Year Ended December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Current taxes |  |  |  |  |
U. S. federal | $ | (1,902 | ) |  | $ | (29,581 | ) |  | $ | 3,934 |
U.S. state and local | 2,480 |  |  | 2,013 |  |  | 707 |
Foreign | (835 | ) |  | 40,613 |  |  | 26,088 |
Total current taxes | (257 | ) |  | 13,045 |  |  | 30,729 |
Deferred taxes |  |  |  |  |
Foreign | 5,391 |  |  | 31,419 |  |  | (20 | )
Total deferred taxes | $ | 5,391 |  |  | $ | 31,419 |  |  | $ | (20 | )
Provision for income taxes | $ | 5,134 |  |  | $ | 44,464 |  |  | $ | 30,709 |
Schedule Of Income Taxes Charged Credited Directly To Equity | The total effect of income taxes on net income and stockholders’ equity for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:
Year Ended December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Total income taxes charged to net income | $ | 5,134 |  |  | $ | 44,464 |  |  | $ | 30,709 |
Income taxes charged (credited) to stockholders’ equity: |  |  |  |  |
Unrealized gains (losses) on investment securities | 11,832 |  |  | (30,838 | ) |  | 41,602 |
Unrealized gains (losses) on foreign currency translations | — |  |  | 25,776 |  |  | (58,527 | )
Change in retirement benefits | (371 | ) |  | 446 |  |  | 3,278 |
Credit Risk Changes to Fair Value Options | 161 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Valuation allowance to equity | (9,095 | ) |  | 4,616 |  |  | 13,647 |
Total charged to stockholders’ equity: | 2,527 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Total effect of income taxes | $ | 7,661 |  |  | $ | 44,464 |  |  | $ | 30,709 |
Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation | The tax provisions in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Total Comprehensive Loss reflect effective tax rates differing from prevailing Federal corporate income tax rates. The following is a reconciliation of these differences:
| 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Year Ended December 31, | Amount |  | % |  | Amount |  | % |  | Amount |  | %
Tax on income from continuing operations at statutory rate | $ | 57,232 |  |  | 21.0 | % |  | $ | (99,488 | ) |  | 35.0 | % |  | $ | 36,759 |  |  | 35.0 | %
Changes in expected tax resulting from: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Tax-exempt interest | (6,850 | ) |  | (2.5 | )% |  | (6,004 | ) |  | 2.1 | % |  | (1,561 | ) |  | (1.5 | )%
Foreign taxes | 10,494 |  |  | 3.9 | % |  | (17,742 | ) |  | 6.2 | % |  | 26,183 |  |  | 24.9 | %
Substantiation adjustment | (60,077 | ) |  | (22.0 | )% |  | 36,124 |  |  | (12.7 | )% |  | (171,687 | ) |  | (163.5 | )%
Valuation allowance | 5,278 |  |  | 1.9 | % |  | 127,675 |  |  | (44.9 | )% |  | 139,584 |  |  | 132.9 | %
Change in Tax Law | (1,902 | ) |  | (0.7 | )% |  | 1,886 |  |  | (0.7 | )% |  | — |  |  | — | %
Other, net | 959 |  |  | 0.4 | % |  | 2,013 |  |  | (0.7 | )% |  | 1,431 |  |  | 1.4 | %
Tax expense on income from continuing operations | $ | 5,134 |  |  | 1.9 | % |  | $ | 44,464 |  |  | (15.7 | )% |  | $ | 30,709 |  |  | 29.2 | %
Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward | A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for 2018, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:
Year Ended December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Balance, beginning of period | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Increases related to prior year tax positions | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Decreases related to prior year tax positions | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Balance, end of period | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
Schedule of Net Operating Loss And Tax Credit Carryovers | Pursuant to the intercompany tax sharing agreement, 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. Pursuant to the Closing Agreement between Ambac and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), the IRS will receive 12.5% of Tier C and 17.5% of Tier D payments, if made. 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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -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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