12.          Income Taxes:

The Company has analyzed filing positions in all of the federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns, as well as all open tax years in these jurisdictions. In prior years, the Company recorded an accrual of $0.5 million, net of federal tax benefit, for potential liabilities for state income taxes in states which have enacted economic nexus statutes and the Company has not filed income tax returns. The Company’s policy is to recognize interest related to unrecognized tax benefits as interest expense and penalties as operating expenses. The Company believes that it has appropriate support for the income tax positions it takes and expects to take on its tax returns, and that its accruals for tax liabilities are adequate for all open years based on an assessment of many factors including past experience and interpretations of tax law applied to the facts of each matter.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was 25.0% compared to 23.4% for the same period in the prior year.