CHEESECAKE FACTORY INC Income Taxes Disclosure
17. Income Taxes
In fiscal 2025, we adopted ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, on a prospective basis. Certain disclosures for fiscal 2025 reflect the new requirements. Prior year disclosures are presented under previous guidance.
The components of income before income taxes and provision for income taxes pursuant to the disclosure requirements of ASU 2023-09 for year ended December 30, 2025 consisted of the following (in thousands):
| 2025 | ||
United States | $ | 141,641 | |
Foreign |
| 21,254 | |
Income before income taxes | $ | 162,895 | |
Income tax provision/(benefit): |
| | |
Current: |
| | |
Federal | $ | 10,083 | |
State |
| 8,955 | |
Foreign |
| 2,135 | |
Total current |
| 21,173 | |
Deferred: |
| | |
Federal |
| (6,917) | |
State |
| 212 | |
Total deferred |
| (6,705) | |
Total provision: | |||
Federal | 3,166 | ||
State | 9,167 | ||
Foreign | 2,135 | ||
Total provision | $ | 14,468 | |
The provision for income taxes for fiscal 2024 and 2023 consisted of the following (in thousands):
| 2024 | | 2023 | |||
Income before income taxes | $ | 171,047 | $ | 100,014 | ||
Income tax provision/(benefit): | ||||||
Current: | ||||||
Federal | $ | 10,638 | $ | 7,183 | ||
State |
| 9,688 |
| 7,195 | ||
Total current |
| 20,326 |
| 14,378 | ||
Deferred: | ||||||
Federal |
| (7,542) |
| (15,329) | ||
State |
| 1,480 |
| (386) | ||
Total deferred |
| (6,062) |
| (15,715) | ||
Total provision/(benefit) | $ | 14,264 | $ | (1,337) | ||
The following reconciles the U.S. federal statutory rate to the effective tax rate for fiscal 2025 pursuant to the disclosure requirement of ASU 2023-09 for year ended December 30, 2025 (in thousands, except percentages):
| Amount | | Percent |
| ||
U.S. federal statutory rate | $ | 34,207 |
| 21.0 | % | |
Domestic federal |
| |
| | ||
Tax Credits |
| |
| | ||
Credit for FICA taxes paid on tips |
| (35,550) |
| (21.8) | ||
Foreign tax credit |
| (1,835) |
| (1.1) | ||
Other |
| (1,809) |
| (1.1) | ||
Nontaxable or nondeductible items |
| |
| | ||
FICA taxes paid on tips subject to tax credit |
| 7,466 |
| 4.6 | ||
Non-deductible executive compensation |
| 3,214 |
| 2.0 | ||
Gain on investments used to fund deferred compensation |
| (2,957) |
| (1.8) | ||
Loss on debt extinguishment |
| 2,681 |
| 1.7 | ||
Other |
| 718 |
| 0.4 | ||
Other |
| |
| | ||
Equity compensation |
| (1,759) |
| (1.1) | ||
Other |
| (964) |
| (0.6) | ||
| 7,242 |
| 4.4 | |||
Foreign tax effects |
| 2,135 |
| 1.3 | ||
Changes in unrecognized tax benefits |
| 1,679 |
| 1.0 | ||
Effective tax rate | $ | 14,468 |
| 8.9 | % | |
| (1) | State taxes in California, Arizona and New Jersey made up the majority (greater than 50%) of the tax effect in this category. |
The following reconciles the U.S. federal statutory rate to the effective tax rate for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
| Fiscal Year |
| |||
| 2024 | | 2023 |
| |
U.S. federal statutory rate |
| 21.0 | % | 21.0 | % |
State and district income taxes, net of federal benefit |
| 5.0 | 5.4 | ||
Credit for FICA taxes paid on tips |
| (16.3) | (24.9) | ||
Other credits and incentives |
| (1.0) | (2.2) | ||
Deferred compensation |
| (1.6) | (2.4) | ||
Equity compensation | 1.2 | 1.5 | |||
Uncertain tax positions | (0.9) | (0.7) | |||
Non-deductible executive compensation | 1.0 | 0.8 | |||
Other |
| (0.1) | 0.2 | ||
Effective tax rate |
| 8.3 | % | (1.3) | % |
Following are the temporary differences that created our deferred tax assets and liabilities (in thousands):
| December 30, 2025 | | December 31, 2024 | |||
Deferred tax assets: | ||||||
Staff member benefits | $ | 44,656 | $ | 40,500 | ||
Insurance reserves |
| 15,949 |
| 15,244 | ||
Operating lease liability | 344,123 | 335,034 | ||||
Deferred income |
| 36,874 |
| 39,248 | ||
Tax credit carryforwards |
| 92,195 |
| 79,933 | ||
Goodwill |
| 23,074 |
| 21,393 | ||
Stock-based compensation | 9,304 | 10,788 | ||||
State and foreign net operating loss carryforwards | 1,215 | 1,331 | ||||
Other | 922 | 867 | ||||
Subtotal |
| 568,312 |
| 544,338 | ||
Less: Valuation allowance |
| (477) |
| (601) | ||
Total | $ | 567,835 | $ | 543,737 | ||
Deferred tax liabilities: | ||||||
Property and equipment | $ | (139,097) | $ | (129,504) | ||
Prepaid expenses |
| (8,499) |
| (8,435) | ||
Inventory |
| (10,055) |
| (9,194) | ||
Accrued rent | (5,865) | (5,867) | ||||
Operating lease asset | (298,662) | (291,991) | ||||
Other | (1,058) | (896) | ||||
Total | $ | (463,236) | $ | (445,887) | ||
Net deferred tax asset | $ | 104,599 | $ | 97,850 | ||
Following is a summary of income taxes paid, net of refunds by jurisdiction pursuant to the disclosure requirements of ASU 2023-09 for the year ended December 30, 2025 (in thousands):
| Fiscal Year 2025 | ||
U.S. federal | $ | 10,333 | |
U.S. state and local |
| | |
California | 3,138 | ||
Other |
| 7,068 | |
Total U.S. state and local |
| 10,206 | |
Foreign |
| 2,240 | |
Total income tax paid, net of refunds | $ | 22,779 | |
At December 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we had $92.1 million and $79.8 million, respectively of U.S. federal credit carryforwards which begin to expire in 2043 and $0.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively, of state hiring and investment credits which begin to expire in 2028. At December 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we had $1.5 million and $1.9 million, respectively of foreign net operating loss carryforwards which begin to expire in 2037 and $23.9 million and $23.7 million, respectively, of state net operating loss carryforwards with statutory carryforward periods ranging from 5 years to expiration period. The earliest year that a material state net operating loss will expire is 2032.
We assess the available evidence to estimate if these carryforwards and our other deferred tax assets will be realized. We concluded that a substantial portion of our deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized by reversals of existing taxable temporary differences and that forecasted future taxable income, exclusive of reversing temporary differences, will result in realization of a substantial portion of the remainder. We did not need to consider tax planning strategies in this analysis. Based on this evaluation, at December 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024 we carried a valuation allowance of $0.5 million and $0.6 million, respectively, to reflect the amount that we will likely not realize. This assessment could change if estimates of future taxable income during the carryforward period are revised. The earliest tax year still subject to examination by a significant taxing jurisdiction is 2015.
At December 30, 2025, we had a reserve of $5.0 million for uncertain tax positions, all of which would favorably impact our effective income tax rate if resolved in our favor. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of our uncertain tax positions is as follows (in thousands):
| Fiscal Year | ||||||||
| 2025 | | 2024 | | 2023 | ||||
Balance at beginning of year | $ | 3,396 | $ | 3,847 | $ | 3,787 | |||
Additions/(reductions) related to prior year tax positions | 1,497 | (419) | 181 | ||||||
Additions/(reductions) related to current period tax positions |
|
| 68 |
| (32) |
| (121) | ||
Additions/(reductions) related to settlements with taxing authorities |
| — |
| — |
| — | |||
Balance at end of year | $ | 4,961 | $ | 3,396 | $ | 3,847 | |||
At December 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we had $0.3 million and $0.1 million, respectively, of accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 23, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 24, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 27, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 22, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 24, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Mar 12, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 28, 2018 | |
| 2017 | Mar 2, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 25, 2016 | |
About Income Taxes Disclosures
The income tax disclosure reveals how much a company actually pays in taxes versus what the statutory rate would predict. Analysts focus on the effective tax rate (ETR) reconciliation, which breaks down every item driving the gap between the 21% federal rate and the company's reported ETR — including R&D credits, foreign rate differentials, and state taxes. Deferred tax assets (DTAs) and their valuation allowances signal management's confidence in future profitability: a rising allowance suggests the company doubts it can use accumulated tax benefits. Uncertain tax benefit (UTB) reserves quantify exposure to IRS challenges on aggressive positions.
Key signals to watch: sudden ETR drops without clear operational reasons, large increases in valuation allowances, growing UTB balances, and significant unremitted foreign earnings. Post-TCJA, pay attention to GILTI and BEAT provisions that affect multinational tax structures. Compare the cash taxes paid (from the cash flow statement) against the income tax provision to gauge earnings quality.