10) Income Taxes

At a special meeting held October 25, 2017, unitholders voted in favor of proposals to have the Company be treated as a corporation effective November 1, 2017, instead of a partnership, for federal income tax purposes (commonly referred to as a “check-the-box” election) along with amendments to our Partnership Agreement to effect such changes in income tax classification. For corporate subsidiaries of the Company, a consolidated Federal income tax return is filed. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amount of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss carry-forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A valuation allowance is recognized if, based on the weight of available evidence including historical tax losses, it is more likely than not that some or all of deferred tax assets will not be realized.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Reform Act”) was enacted into law. The Tax Reform Act is a complicated piece of legislation that, among other provisions, contains several key provisions which impact the Company, especially the reduction of the Federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018.

Given the significance and complexity of the legislation, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (SAB 118), which allows registrants to record provisional amounts during a one year “measurement period” similar to that used when accounting for business combinations. During the measurement period, impacts of the law are expected to be recorded at the time a reasonable estimate for all or a portion of the effects can be made, and provisional amounts can be recognized and adjusted as information becomes available, prepared or analyzed.

As of December 31, 2017, the income tax benefit is based, in part, on a reasonable estimate of deferred tax balances as of the enactment of the Tax Reform Act. The estimate of such deferred tax balances is provisional. The provisional re-measurement of the deferred tax assets and liabilities resulted in an $11.5 million discrete tax benefit recorded in the quarter ended December 31, 2017. The provisional re-measurement amount is anticipated to change as data becomes available allowing more accurate scheduling of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities. We anticipate finalizing and recording any resulting adjustments by the end of our current fiscal year ending September 30, 2018.

The effective tax rate for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 is negative 5.3%. The income tax provision for the quarter reflects the application of blended statutory rates for calendar years 2017 and 2018 to the quarter’s results, as well as recognition of the $11.5 million provisional tax benefit due to reduction in the Federal corporate tax rate. As a result of the tax reform, the Company’s net deferred tax liability will be realized at a lower statutory tax rate than when originally recorded, resulting in the aforementioned tax benefit. Excluding the impact of this net deferred tax liability related tax benefit our effective income tax rate decreased from 41.3% at December 31, 2016 to 34.7% at December 31, 2017 primarily due to the lower enacted Federal statutory tax rate.

The accompanying financial statements are reported on a fiscal year, however, the Company and its corporate subsidiaries file Federal and State income tax returns on a calendar year.

The current and deferred income tax (benefit) and expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2017, and 2016 are as follows:

	Three Months Ended
	December 31,
(in thousands)	2017			2016
Income before income taxes	$	28,670		$	31,138
Current tax expense		1,228			8,922

Deferred tax expense		8,712			3,941
Deferred tax benefit - impact of tax reform		(11,452	)		-
Total deferred tax (benefit) expense		(2,740	)		3,941
Total tax (benefit) expense	$	(1,512	)	$	12,863

The provision for income taxes differs from income taxes computed at the Federal statutory rate as a result of the following (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended
	December 31,
(in thousands)	2017			2016
Income before income taxes	$	28,670		$	31,138

Tax at Federal statutory rate		7,024			10,898
Impact of Partnership loss not subject to federal income taxes		51			146
State taxes net of federal benefit		2,522			1,819
Deferred tax benefit - impact of tax reform		(11,452	)		-
Other		343			-
Total tax (benefit) expense	$	(1,512	)	$	12,863

At December 31, 2017, we did not have unrecognized income tax benefits.

Our continuing practice is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters as a component of income tax expense. We file U.S. Federal income tax returns and various state and local returns. A number of years may elapse before an uncertain tax position is audited and finally resolved. For our Federal income tax returns we have four tax years subject to examination. In our major state tax jurisdictions of New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania we have four years that are subject to examination. In the state tax jurisdictions of New Jersey we have five tax years that are subject to examination. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of resolution of any particular uncertain tax position, based on our assessment of many factors including past experience and interpretation of tax law, we believe that our provision for income taxes reflect the most probable outcome. This assessment relies on estimates and assumptions and may involve a series of complex judgments about future events.