NEW YORK TIMES CONYT
NEW YORK TIMES CO Income Taxes Disclosure
Income Taxes
The Company adopted ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Taxes Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”) on a retrospective basis. See Note 2 for additional information.
Income before income tax expense was attributable to the following jurisdictions:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| U.S. | $ | 442,512 | $ | 378,092 | $ | 295,567 | ||||||||||||||
| Foreign | 8,744 | 5,331 | 7,021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Income before income taxes | $ | 451,256 | $ | 383,423 | $ | 302,588 | ||||||||||||||
The components of income tax expense as shown in our Consolidated Statements of Operations were as follows:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Current tax expense/(benefit) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal | $ | 39,407 | $ | 54,547 | $ | 56,139 | ||||||||||||||
| Foreign | 2,681 | 2,360 | 2,590 | |||||||||||||||||
| State and local | 26,659 | 24,751 | 30,901 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total current tax expense | 68,747 | 81,658 | 89,630 | |||||||||||||||||
| Deferred tax expense/(benefit) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal | 34,589 | 4,713 | (12,715) | |||||||||||||||||
| Foreign | (280) | — | — | |||||||||||||||||
| State and local | 4,219 | 3,227 | (7,079) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total deferred tax expense/(benefit) | 38,528 | 7,940 | (19,794) | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense | $ | 107,275 | $ | 89,598 | $ | 69,836 | ||||||||||||||
The following table is a reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% to the Company’s effective rate for the years ended December 31, 2025, December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, respectively, in accordance with the guidance in ASU 2023-09.
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024(1) | December 31, 2023(1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | Amount | % of Pre-tax | Amount | % of Pre-tax | Amount | % of Pre-tax | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Federal statutory tax rate | $ | 94,764 | 21.0 | $ | 80,519 | 21.0 | $ | 63,544 | 21.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
State and local income taxes, net of Federal Income tax effect(2) | 24,413 | 5.4 | 21,043 | 5.5 | 18,445 | 6.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign tax effects | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other foreign jurisdictions | 2,201 | 0.5 | 2,572 | 0.7 | 2,448 | 0.8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Effect of cross-border tax laws | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign-derived intangible income | (2,957) | (0.7) | (4,706) | (1.2) | (3,985) | (1.3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tax credits | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development tax credits | (13,181) | (2.9) | (9,518) | (2.5) | (12,683) | (4.2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | (2,894) | (0.6) | (3,825) | (1.0) | (2,209) | (0.7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Changes in valuation allowances | 439 | 0.1 | 2,092 | 0.5 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nontaxable or nondeductible Items | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nondeductible executive compensation | 6,488 | 1.4 | 2,154 | 0.6 | 2,175 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based awards (benefit)/expense | (3,829) | (0.8) | 154 | — | 478 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | 1,436 | 0.3 | 881 | 0.2 | (111) | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Changes in unrecognized tax benefits | 61 | — | (1,728) | (0.5) | 1,763 | 0.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other adjustments | 334 | 0.1 | (40) | — | (29) | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense | $ | 107,275 | 23.8 | $ | 89,598 | 23.3 | $ | 69,836 | 23.2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Prior periods presented have been recast to conform to the current presentation. See Note 2 for additional information.
(2)The majority (greater than 50 percent) of the tax effect in the state and local taxes was attributable to California, New York and New York City for the year ended December 31, 2025; California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and New York City for the year ended December 31, 2024; and California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and New York City for the year ended December 31, 2023.
The components of the net deferred tax assets and liabilities recognized in our Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Deferred tax assets | ||||||||||||||
| Retirement, postemployment and deferred compensation plans | $ | 52,828 | $ | 54,464 | ||||||||||
| Accruals for other employee benefits, compensation, insurance and other | 19,973 | 17,482 | ||||||||||||
| Net operating losses | 26,999 | 35,837 | ||||||||||||
| Operating lease liabilities | 12,911 | 12,643 | ||||||||||||
| Capitalized research and experimentation costs | 50,705 | 94,930 | ||||||||||||
| Other | 23,592 | 27,919 | ||||||||||||
| Gross deferred tax assets | $ | 187,008 | $ | 243,275 | ||||||||||
| Valuation allowance | (6,881) | (5,332) | ||||||||||||
| Net deferred tax assets | $ | 180,127 | $ | 237,943 | ||||||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities | ||||||||||||||
| Property, plant and equipment | $ | 21,510 | $ | 31,401 | ||||||||||
| Intangible assets | 68,062 | 73,536 | ||||||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 9,120 | 8,774 | ||||||||||||
| Other | 8,638 | 12,835 | ||||||||||||
| Gross deferred tax liabilities | $ | 107,330 | $ | 126,546 | ||||||||||
| Net deferred tax asset | $ | 72,797 | $ | 111,397 | ||||||||||
On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) was enacted into law. The OBBBA includes provisions retroactive to January 1, 2025, and, among other provisions, eliminates the requirement to capitalize and amortize domestic research and experimentation expenditures over five years and provides an election for taxpayers to deduct such expenditures in the year incurred. These changes resulted in lower cash tax payments during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.
Federal tax operating loss carryforwards acquired in connection with The Athletic Media Company acquisition totaled $20 million as of December 31, 2025. Such losses have remaining lives of up to 12 years. State tax operating loss carryforwards totaled $7.4 million as of December 31, 2025, and $6.9 million as of December 31, 2024. Such loss carryforwards expire in accordance with provisions of applicable tax laws and have remaining lives of up to 17 years. Foreign tax operating loss carryforwards totaled $1.1 million as of December 31, 2025, most of which have an indefinite carryforward period.
We assess whether a valuation allowance should be established against deferred tax assets based on the consideration of both positive and negative evidence using a “more likely than not” standard. In making such judgments, significant weight is given to evidence that can be objectively verified. We evaluated our deferred tax assets for recoverability using a consistent approach that considers our three-year historical cumulative income/(loss), including an assessment of the degree to which any such losses were due to items that are unusual in nature (i.e., impairments of nondeductible goodwill and intangible assets).
We had a valuation allowance totaling $6.9 million as of December 31, 2025, and $5.3 million as of December 31, 2024, for deferred tax assets primarily associated with net operating losses of U.S. and foreign subsidiaries and U.S. foreign tax credits, as we determined that these assets were not realizable on a more-likely-than-not basis.
As of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of income taxes in our Consolidated Balance Sheets and for the years then ended in our Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity was net of deferred tax assets of approximately $141 million and $140 million, respectively.
We had a prepaid income tax asset of $5.1 million as of December 31, 2025, compared with a prepaid income tax asset of $5.6 million as of December 31, 2024.
Total income taxes paid (net of refunds received), disaggregated by federal (national), state and local, and foreign taxes, were as follows:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Federal | $ | 39,997 | $ | 79,000 | $ | 45,001 | ||||||||||||||
| State and local | 29,250 | 31,183 | 24,582 | |||||||||||||||||
| Foreign | 2,699 | 2,908 | 2,231 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total income taxes paid (net of refunds) | $ | 71,946 | $ | 113,091 | $ | 71,814 | ||||||||||||||
Income taxes paid (net of refunds) exceeded five percent of total income taxes paid (net of refunds) in the following jurisdictions:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| State and local | ||||||||||||||||||||
| California | $ | 4,924 | * | * | ||||||||||||||||
| New York | 5,300 | * | 6,500 | |||||||||||||||||
| New York City | 6,762 | * | 5,100 | |||||||||||||||||
*Jurisdiction below the threshold for the period presented.
A reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
| (In thousands) | December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Balance at beginning of year | $ | 4,932 | $ | 7,074 | $ | 5,528 | ||||||||||||||
| Gross additions to tax positions taken during the current year | 1,738 | 840 | 2,466 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gross additions to tax positions taken during the prior year | — | 1,630 | 877 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gross reductions for tax positions taken during the prior year | (840) | (2,305) | (8) | |||||||||||||||||
| Reductions from settlements with taxing authorities | (1,764) | (1,924) | (1,185) | |||||||||||||||||
| Reductions from lapse of applicable statutes of limitations | (254) | (383) | (604) | |||||||||||||||||
| Balance at end of year | $ | 3,812 | $ | 4,932 | $ | 7,074 | ||||||||||||||
The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that would, if recognized, affect the effective income tax rate was approximately $3 million and $4 million as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively.
In 2025 and 2024, we recorded a $1.1 million and a $5.7 million income tax benefit, respectively, due to a reduction in the Company’s reserve for uncertain tax positions.
We also recognize accrued interest expense and penalties related to the unrecognized tax benefits within income tax expense or benefit. The total amount of accrued interest and penalties was $0.4 million and $2.5 million as of December 31, 2025, and December 31, 2024, respectively. The total amount of accrued interest and penalties was a net benefit of $2.1 million in 2025, a net expense of $0.5 million in 2024 and a net expense of $0.3 million in 2023.
With few exceptions, we are no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years prior to 2015. Management believes that our accrual for tax liabilities is adequate for all open audit years. This assessment relies on estimates and assumptions and may involve a series of complex judgments about future events.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 27, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 27, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 20, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 28, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 23, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 25, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 27, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 27, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 22, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 24, 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.