INCOME TAXES

On December 22, 2017, the 2017 Tax Act was signed into law. Among other provisions, the 2017 Tax Act reduces the federal statutory corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%. The reduction of the corporate tax rate caused us to re-measure our deferred tax assets and liabilities to the lower federal base rate of 21%. We reported a discrete adjustment from revaluing our deferred tax assets and liabilities which resulted in a provisional net decrease in income tax expense of $24,872,000 for the 13 weeks ended December 24, 2017.

The Securities Exchange Commission has issued rules that allow for a measurement period of up to one year after the enactment date of the 2017 Tax Act to finalize the recording of the related transitional impact. Apart from any future changes in interpretations, legislative action or changes in accounting standards, we have finalized and recorded the resulting adjustments as of September 30, 2018. The impact of the re-measurement did not change materially for the 53 weeks ended September 30, 2018.

Income tax expense (benefit) consists of the following:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2018		2017	2016

Current:
Federal	275		394	1,241
State	875		819	379
Deferred	(17,378	)	10,398	20,556
	(16,228	)	11,611	22,176

Income tax expense (benefit) related to continuing operations differs from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal income tax rate to income (loss) before income taxes. The reasons for these differences are as follows:



(Percent of Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes)	2018		2017		2016

Computed “expected” income tax expense (benefit)	24.7		35.0		35.0
State income tax expense (benefit), net of federal tax impact	2.6		2.3		3.8
Net income of associated companies taxed at dividend rates	(5.1	)	(3.7	)	(2.6	)
Resolution of tax matters	(8.4	)	2.2		3.2
Non-deductible expenses	2.9		1.5		1.0
Valuation allowance	9.9		2.6		(7.7	)
Warrant valuation	0.2		(10.2	)	5.0
Revaluation of deferred income taxes due to law charges	(79.1	)	—		—
Other	(0.4	)	(0.8	)	0.4
	(52.7	)	28.9		38.1

Net deferred income tax liabilities consist of the following components:



(Thousands of Dollars)	September 30 2018		September 24 2017

Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	(16,506	)	(28,422	)
Identified intangible assets	(18,486	)	(35,790	)
Long-term debt	(11,074	)	(16,993	)
Investments	(6,472	)	—
	(52,538	)	(81,205	)
Deferred income tax assets:
Investments	—		2,520
Accrued compensation	2,402		4,622
Allowance for doubtful accounts and losses on loans	910		1,487
Pension and postretirement benefits	2,305		4,593
Net operating loss carryforwards	41,663		37,997
Accrued expenses	424		601
Other	3,075		5,023
	50,779		56,843
Valuation allowance	(37,349	)	(29,035	)
Net deferred income tax liabilities	(39,108	)	(53,397	)

All deferred taxes are categorized as non-current.

A reconciliation of 2018 and 2017 changes in gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:



(Thousands of Dollars)	2018		2017

Balance, beginning of year	13,915		12,531
Increases (decreases) in tax positions for prior years	132		36
Increases in tax positions for the current year	2,567		2,150
Lapse in statute of limitations	(510	)	(802	)
Balance, end of year	16,104		13,915

Approximately $10,312,000 and $9,010,000 of the gross unrecognized tax benefit balances for 2018 and 2017 respectively, relate to state net operating losses which are netted against deferred taxes on our balance sheet. The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate was $12,779,000 at September 30, 2018. We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. The amount of accrued interest related to unrecognized tax benefits was, net of tax, $563,000 at September 30, 2018 and $367,000 at September 24, 2017. There were no amounts provided for penalties at September 30, 2018 or September 24, 2017.

No significant income tax audits are currently in progress and the Company has not received any notices of intent to audit. Certain of the Company's state income tax returns for the year ended September 30, 2012 are open for examination. The Federal and remaining state returns are open beginning with the September 29, 2015 year.

At September 30, 2018, we have state tax benefits of approximately $63,048,000 in net operating loss ("NOL") carryforwards, before adjusting for federal tax impacts of $13,239,000, or 21%, that expire between 2019 and 2038. These NOL carryforwards result in a deferred income tax asset of $49,809,000 at September 30, 2018, a portion of which is offset by a valuation allowance.

We reported a Federal NOL of approximately $17,850,000 as of year-end September 24, 2017. We expect to report taxable income in 2018 in excess of that NOL, so that no Federal NOL will be available in the fiscal year 2019.