Note 19:          Income Taxes

Our overall effective tax rate was 26.8% for the 13 weeks ended March 31, 2018 and a positive tax provision of $575 against a pre-provision loss of $2,050 for the 13 weeks ended March 31, 2018, respectively. The effective tax rates and related provisional tax amounts vary from the U.S. federal statutory rate due to state taxes, foreign taxes, share-based compensation, non-controlling interest, valuation allowance, and certain non-deductible expenses.

We regularly evaluate both positive and negative evidence related to retaining a valuation allowance against certain deferred tax assets. The realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon sufficient future taxable income during the periods when deductible temporary differences and carryforwards are expected to be available to reduce taxable income. We have concluded based on the weight of evidence that a valuation allowance should be maintained against certain deferred tax assets that we do not expect to utilize in the near future. The Company continues to have a full valuation allowance against its Canadian operations.