Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Income Taxes

v3.22.4
Income Taxes
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

16. Income Taxes

The Company and its subsidiaries file federal, state, local and foreign income tax returns in jurisdictions with varying statutes of limitation. The Company’s subsidiary, GPM, had been classified through July 31, 2022 as a partnership for U.S. federal and certain state jurisdictions for income tax purposes.

In the third quarter of 2022, the Company, in order to streamline business operations and provide long term synergies and other cost savings, approved an internal entity realignment and streamlining of certain direct and indirect subsidiaries. The internal realignment involved a series of steps, the majority of which were completed by the end of the third quarter of 2022. As part of the internal restructuring plan, the tax status of certain subsidiaries changed from nontaxable to taxable. Accordingly, the recognition and derecognition of certain deferred taxes are reflected in the continuing operations as of the date on which the change in tax status occurred. The Company recorded a one-time non-cash tax expense in the amount of approximately $8.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 in connection with the internal entity realignment. The recording of this deferred tax expense aligned the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities to reflect the temporary differences between the financial statement and tax basis of the Company’s assets and liabilities at the time of the change in status. As a result of the internal entity realignment, effective July 31, 2022, Arko Convenience Stores, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, became the 100% owner of GPM, which was then classified as a disregarded entity for U.S. federal tax purposes.

The Company has income tax net operating losses (“NOL”) and tax credit carryforwards related to both domestic and international operations. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has recorded a deferred tax asset of $5.3 million reflecting the benefit of $33.1 million in loss carryforwards and $5.1 million in tax credits. The deferred tax assets expire as follows:

 

 

 

Amount

 

 

Expiration Date

 

 

(in thousands)

 

 

 

Domestic state NOL

 

$

11,602

 

 

2032 - Indefinite

Foreign NOL

 

 

18,963

 

 

Indefinite life

Foreign capital loss

 

 

2,557

 

 

Indefinite life

Foreign tax credits

 

 

5,136

 

 

2022 - 2027

At each balance sheet date, the Company’s management assesses available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to use the existing deferred tax assets. This assessment is performed tax jurisdiction by tax jurisdiction. Based on this assessment, a valuation allowance has been recorded to reflect the portion of the deferred tax asset that is more likely than not to be realized.

The Company recorded a valuation allowance related to U.S. jurisdictions in the amount of $0.4 million and $0.0 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 to recognize that a portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized based on the more likely than not standard. In 2021, the Company released the valuation allowance in one tax jurisdiction which resulted in a $5.5 million benefit to the current rate. The release of the prior valuation allowance was based on the Company’s current earnings and anticipated future earnings. The Company has recorded a 100% valuation allowance against its foreign subsidiaries’ deferred tax assets in the amount of $10.7 million to recognize that the deferred tax asset will not be realized based on the more likely than not standard. A significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated was the cumulative loss incurred over the respective three-year period in this jurisdiction. Such objective evidence limits the ability to consider other subjective evidence such as the Company’s projections for future growth.

The benefits of tax positions are not recorded unless it is more likely than not the tax position would be sustained upon challenge by the appropriate tax authorities. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company and its subsidiaries have recorded $0.3

million and $0.6 million, respectively, for unrecognized tax benefits related to state exposures. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of uncertain tax positions included in other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets was as follows:

 

 

2022

 

 

2021

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Beginning balance as of January 1,

 

$

600

 

 

$

600

 

Additions for tax positions taken in prior years

 

 

 

 

 

931

 

Reductions of tax positions taken in prior years

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reductions for settlements on tax positions of prior years

 

 

(339

)

 

 

(931

)

Ending balance as of December 31,

 

$

261

 

 

$

600

 

Each of the Company’s subsidiaries is subject to examination in their respective filing jurisdiction. For the Company’s U.S. subsidiaries, tax years ending after December 31, 2018 remain open. The Company’s foreign subsidiaries’ tax returns up to and including tax year 2017 are considered closed due to the statute of limitations.

Earnings before income taxes were as follows:

 

 

 

For the Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2022

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Domestic (U.S.)

 

$

106,365

 

 

$

73,338

 

 

$

38,762

 

Foreign (Israel)

 

 

1,170

 

 

 

(2,277

)

 

 

(9,622

)

Total

 

$

107,535

 

 

$

71,061

 

 

$

29,140

 

 

The components of the income tax provision were as follows:

 

 

 

For the Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2022

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Current:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic federal

 

$

6,907

 

 

$

1,535

 

 

$

690

 

Domestic state and local

 

 

6,350

 

 

 

5,251

 

 

 

2,558

 

Total current

 

 

13,257

 

 

 

6,786

 

 

 

3,248

 

Deferred:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic federal

 

 

19,830

 

 

 

7,550

 

 

 

(3,399

)

Domestic state and local

 

 

2,470

 

 

 

(2,702

)

 

 

(1,348

)

Total deferred

 

 

22,300

 

 

 

4,848

 

 

 

(4,747

)

Total income tax expense (benefit)

 

$

35,557

 

 

$

11,634

 

 

$

(1,499

)

 

The reconciliation of significant differences between income tax expense applying the US statutory rate and the actual income tax expense (benefit) at the effective rate were as follows:

 

 

 

For the Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2022

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Income tax expense (benefit) at the statutory rate

 

$

22,582

 

 

 

21.0

%

 

$

14,923

 

 

 

21.0

%

 

$

6,119

 

 

 

21.0

%

Increases (decreases):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Internal entity realignment, change in entity status (*)

 

 

8,880

 

 

 

8.3

%

 

 

 

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

 

 

 

0.0

%

Non-controlling interest in partnership

 

 

(58

)

 

 

(0.1

)%

 

 

(48

)

 

 

(0.1

)%

 

 

(3,412

)

 

 

(11.7

)%

State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit

 

 

6,470

 

 

 

6.0

%

 

 

3,444

 

 

 

4.8

%

 

 

2,188

 

 

 

7.5

%

International rate differential

 

 

23

 

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

(425

)

 

 

(0.6

)%

 

 

262

 

 

 

0.9

%

Non-deductible expenses

 

 

1,392

 

 

 

1.3

%

 

 

1,941

 

 

 

2.7

%

 

 

470

 

 

 

1.6

%

Investment in partnership

 

 

 

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

 

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

850

 

 

 

2.9

%

Valuation allowance

 

 

(2,222

)

 

 

(2.1

)%

 

 

(3,892

)

 

 

(5.5

)%

 

 

(7,550

)

 

 

(25.9

)%

Credits

 

 

(1,319

)

 

 

(1.2

)%

 

 

(1,880

)

 

 

(2.6

)%

 

 

(1,066

)

 

 

(3.7

)%

Other rate differentials

 

 

(191

)

 

 

(0.1

)%

 

 

(2,429

)

 

 

(3.4

)%

 

 

640

 

 

 

2.3

%

Total

 

$

35,557

 

 

 

33.1

%

 

$

11,634

 

 

 

16.3

%

 

$

(1,499

)

 

 

(5.1

)%

 

(*) refer to details above.

 

The above components reflect that for the three years ended December 31, 2022, the registrant filer was the Company, a U.S. (domestic) entity. Refer to Note 1 for details regarding the Merger Transaction.

 

Significant components of deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following:

 

 

 

As of December 31,

 

 

 

2022

 

 

2021

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Deferred tax assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asset retirement obligation

 

$

16,290

 

 

$

1,616

 

Inventory

 

 

376

 

 

 

221

 

Lease obligations

 

 

375,299

 

 

 

72,944

 

Financial liabilities

 

 

24,607

 

 

 

 

Accrued expenses

 

 

4,054

 

 

 

213

 

Deferred income

 

 

9,868

 

 

 

1,024

 

Fuel supply agreements

 

 

61,816

 

 

 

 

Environmental liabilities

 

 

1,780

 

 

 

168

 

Transaction costs

 

 

2,224

 

 

 

2,273

 

Investment in partnership

 

 

13,754

 

 

 

33,332

 

Share-based compensation

 

 

3,936

 

 

 

224

 

Net operating loss carryforwards

 

 

5,291

 

 

 

11,922

 

Credits

 

 

5,136

 

 

 

11,971

 

Other

 

 

2,302

 

 

 

1,169

 

Total deferred tax assets

 

 

526,733

 

 

 

137,077

 

Valuation allowance

 

 

(11,142

)

 

 

(13,416

)

Total deferred tax assets, net

 

 

515,591

 

 

 

123,661

 

Deferred tax liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Property and equipment

 

 

(123,931

)

 

 

(10,540

)

Intangible assets

 

 

(19,810

)

 

 

(1,214

)

Right-of-use assets

 

 

(345,902

)

 

 

(66,097

)

Prepaid expenses

 

 

(3,208

)

 

 

(580

)

Translation adjustments

 

 

 

 

 

(2,097

)

Other

 

 

(12

)

 

 

(4,632

)

Total deferred tax liabilities

 

 

(492,863

)

 

 

(85,160

)

Net deferred tax asset

 

$

22,728

 

 

$

38,501