Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 5 - Income Taxes
We apply the accounting guidance related to accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. This guidance prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. At March 31, 2018, we had a liability for unrecognized tax benefits of $5.8 million, primarily related to foreign operations, (all of which, if recognized, would favorably impact our effective tax rate.). At December 31, 2017, we had a liability for unrecognized tax benefits of $5.4 million, all of which would favorably impact our effective tax rate upon recognition. In addition, we recognize interest and penalties that could be applied to uncertain tax positions in periodic income tax expense. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we had approximately $2.2 million and $2.1 million, respectively, of accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions.
Income tax expense was $1.6 million and $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Despite the pre-tax loss for the first quarter of 2018, we recognized income tax expense due to the jurisdictional mix of income and loss during the quarter, along with our continued inability to recognize the benefits associated with certain losses as a result of valuation allowances.