INCOME TAXES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

On March 11, 2021 the President signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, which included provisions on taxes, health care, unemployment benefits, direct payments, state and local funding and other issues. The tax provisions will not have a material impact on the Company’s tax provision calculations.

The Company’s income tax benefit (expense) for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and the three months ended March 31, 2020 consisted of the following components:


(In thousands)	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2021		2020
Current tax expense	$	(1,589)	$	(1,705)
Deferred tax benefit (expense)	(78,346)		152,216
Income tax benefit (expense)	$	(79,935)	$	150,511

The effective tax rate for the Company for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was (49.3)%. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was primarily impacted by the deferred tax expense recorded for the valuation allowance against certain deferred tax assets for disallowed interest expense and net operating loss carryforwards due to the uncertainty of the Company’s ability to utilize those assets in future periods.

The effective tax rate 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. The deferred tax benefit primarily consists of $125.5 million related to the FCC license impairment charges recorded during the period.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information.

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