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Income Taxes (Tables) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2020
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 | 2015
United Kingdom | 2016
Italy | 2015
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:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019
U.S. | $ | (257 | ) |  | $ | (63 | )
Foreign | (30 | ) |  | 22 |
Total | $ | (287 | ) |  | $ | (41 | )
Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | The components of the provision for income taxes were as follows:
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019
Current taxes |  |  |
U. S. federal | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |
U.S. state and local | — |  |  | (4 | )
Foreign | (2 | ) |  | 6 |
Current taxes | (2 | ) |  | 3 |
Deferred taxes |  |  |
Foreign | (5 | ) |  | (1 | )
Deferred taxes | (5 | ) |  | (1 | )
Provision for income taxes | $ | (7 | ) |  | $ | 2 |
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, 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 |  | 15%
B | The next | $1,057 | after Tier A | 40%
C | The next | $1,057 | after Tier B | 10%
D | The next | $1,057 | after Tier C | 15%
As of December 31, 2018, Ambac Assurance generated cumulative taxable income of $1,508, leaving $2,142 of the $3,650 Allocated NOLs subject to Tolling Payments. For the year ended December 31, 2019, and three months ended March 31, 2020, Ambac Assurance generated NOLs of approximately $143 and $172, respectively, which will need to be utilized before any new Tolling Payments will be generated. If not utilized, the NOLs will begin expiring in 2029, and will fully expire in 2040, with the exception of the tax loss generated during the three months ended March 31, 2020 of approximately $168, which if Ambac remains in a loss position at year end 2020, will expire in 2041.

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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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- 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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 217 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117331294&loc=d3e36027-109320 + Details
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