Income Taxes |
3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2021 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes | Income Taxes We file a consolidated federal income tax return for all of our wholly owned subsidiaries. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, income tax benefit (expense) was $62 and $(80), respectively.
Our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 was (39.5)% and 21.4%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was primarily impacted by a $95 benefit associated with a state tax audit settlement. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was primarily impacted by the recognition of excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation. We estimate our effective tax rate for the year ending December 31, 2021 will be approximately 16%.
As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had a valuation allowance related to deferred tax assets of $76 and $54, respectively, that were not likely to be realized due to due to the timing of certain federal and state net operating loss limitations.
We are participating in the Compliance Assurance Process of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for 2021 which is expected to conclude during 2022. This program allows us to work with the IRS to identify and resolve potential U.S. Federal tax issues before the filing of tax returns. We are continuously audited by various taxing jurisdictions. There are no material assessments which we believe are probable at this time.
On February 1, 2021, Holdings entered into a tax sharing agreement with Liberty Media governing the allocation of consolidated U.S. income tax liabilities and setting forth agreements with respect to other tax matters.
Under the Internal Revenue Code, two corporations may form a consolidated tax group, and file a consolidated federal income tax return, if one corporation owns stock representing at least 80% of the voting power and value of the outstanding capital stock of the other corporation. As of March 31, 2021, Liberty Media beneficially owned, directly and indirectly, approximately 77% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. We expect that Liberty Media could beneficially own, directly and indirectly, over 80% of the outstanding shares of our common stock at some time in 2021, and Holdings and Liberty Media would then become members of the same consolidated tax group. Should that happen, the tax sharing agreement would govern certain matters related to the resulting consolidated federal income tax returns, as well as state and local returns filed on a consolidated or combined basis.
The tax sharing agreement contains provisions that Holdings believes are customary for tax sharing agreements between members of a consolidated group. The tax sharing agreement and our inclusion in Liberty Media’s consolidated tax group is not expected to have any material adverse effect on us.
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