v3.7.0.1
Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
The following table provides a comparative summary of our income tax expense and effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:
 
Three months ended
 
March 31,
 
2017
 
2016
Income tax expense
$
24

 
$
51

Effective income tax rate
12.4
%
 
35.8
%

The income tax expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 is attributable to the U.S. federal, state and foreign income taxes on our profitable operations. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 as compared to the same period in the prior year is primarily attributable to the deferred tax cost associated with the distribution of earnings from our captive foreign partnership in 2016. The absence of this non-cash deferred tax cost decreased the effective tax rate by approximately 19%.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has commenced an examination of our U.S. income tax returns for 2013 and 2014. We anticipate this audit will conclude within the next twelve months. As of April 27, 2017, we had not received a Notice of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS.
We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against certain deferred tax assets where realization is not certain.