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INCOME TAXES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Income Tax Benefit (Expense)

The Company’s income tax benefit (expense) from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 (Successor) and the three months ended March 31, 2019 (Predecessor), respectively, consisted of the following components:



(In thousands)	Successor Company			Predecessor Company
	Three Months Ended March 31,			Three Months Ended March 31,
	2020			2019
Current tax benefit (expense)	$	(1,705	)	$	69,794
Deferred tax benefit (expense)	152,216			(8,600		)
Income tax benefit	$	150,511		$	61,194

The effective tax rate from continuing operations for the Successor Company for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was 8.2%. The effective tax rate for the period was primarily impacted by the impairment charges to non-deductible goodwill discussed in Note 1. The deferred tax benefit primarily consists of $125.5 million related to the FCC license impairment charges recorded during the period.

The effective tax rate from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 (Predecessor) was 224.6%. The 2019 effective tax rate was primarily impacted by forecasted changes in the valuation allowance recorded against deferred tax assets resulting from net operating loss carryforwards and interest expense limitation carryforwards in U.S. federal and certain state jurisdictions.

On March 27, 2020 the CARES Act, which included numerous tax provisions, was signed into law. While the Company is continuing to evaluate the impact of the enacted tax provisions as additional guidance is provided, upon the Company's initial review the provision with the most significant impact on the Company’s income taxes is the increase to the Section 163(j) interest deduction limitation and the ability to elect to use the Company’s 2019 Adjusted Taxable Income (as defined under Section 163(j)) for purposes of calculating the 2020 Section 163(j) limitation. There were several other tax provisions included in the CARES Act allowing companies more flexibility in carrying back net operating losses generated in 2018, 2019 or 2020, temporarily eliminating the provision limiting net operating losses utilization to 80% of taxable income and the acceleration of refunds available from alternative minimum tax credits. The Company does not expect to benefit from any of these provisions. In addition to the income tax provisions mentioned above, the CARES Act also included provisions impacting employment taxes allowing companies to defer the payment of the employee portion of certain employment taxes that would be due from the enactment date through January 1, 2021. The amounts deferred are due fifty percent by December 31, 2021 and fifty percent by December 31, 2022. In addition, the CARES Act included a provision providing an Employee Retention tax credit, which would offset employment taxes, for qualified companies and wages. The Company is still evaluating this provision to determine our eligibility for these employment tax credits.