Table:
|  |  | Year Ended December 31, |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Net income | $95,973 | $127,980 | $138,668 |
| Change in financial guarantee liability(1) | 16,215 | — | — |
| Transaction expenses(2) | 11,345 | 2,393 | 2,612 |
| Non-recurring expenses(3) | 2,804 | — | — |
| Incremental pro forma tax expense(4) | (24,768) | (21,248) | (54,266) |
| Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income | $101,569 | $109,125 | $87,014 |
Paragraphs:
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (United States Dollars in thousands, except per share data and unless otherwise indicated)
In light of the anticipated material non-cash charges to be recorded in connection with our financial guarantee arrangements as required subsequent to the adoption and implementation of ASU 2016-13 (as discussed in Note 1 to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 within "Accounting Standards Issued, But Not Yet Adopted – Measurement of credit losses on financial instruments"), management is evaluating both the disclosure of additional non-GAAP financial measures and the modification of its historical computation of adjusted EBITDA commencing in 2020 to enhance the disclosure of indicators of our business performance over the long term and to provide additional useful information to users of our financial statements.
Further, we utilize Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income, which we define as consolidated net income, adjusted for (i) transaction and non-recurring expenses; (ii) for 2019, losses associated with the financial guarantee arrangement for a Bank Partner that did not renew its loan origination agreement; and (iii) incremental pro forma tax expense assuming all of our noncontrolling interests were subject to income taxation. Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income is a useful measure because it makes our results more directly comparable to public companies that have the vast majority of their earnings subject to corporate income taxation. Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, the analysis of other GAAP financial measures, such as net income. Some of the limitations of Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income include:
• It makes assumptions about tax expense, which may differ from actual results; and • It is not a universally consistent calculation, which limits its usefulness as a comparative measure.
Management compensates for the inherent limitations associated with using the measure of Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income through disclosure of such limitations, presentation of our financial statements in accordance with GAAP and reconciliation of Adjusted Pro Forma Net Income to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, net income, as presented below.
(1) Includes losses recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 associated with the financial guarantee arrangement for a Bank Partner that did not renew its loan origination agreement when it expired in November 2019. See Note 14 to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 for additional discussion of our financial guarantee arrangements.
(2) For the year ended December 31, 2019, includes loss on remeasurement of our tax receivable agreement liability of $9.8 million and professional fees associated with our strategic alternatives review process of $1.5 million. For the year ended December 31, 2018, includes certain costs associated with our IPO, which were not deferrable against the proceeds of the IPO. Further, includes certain costs, such as legal and debt arrangement costs, related to our March 2018 term loan upsizing. For the year ended December 31, 2017, includes one-time fees paid to an affiliate of one of the members of the board of managers in conjunction with the August 2017 term loan transaction.
(3) For the year ended December 31, 2019, includes (i) legal fees associated with IPO related litigation of $2.0 million, (ii) one-time tax compliance fees related to filing the final tax return for the Former Corporate Investors associated with the Reorganization Transactions of $0.2 million, and (iii) lien filing expenses related to certain Bank Partner solar loans of $0.6 million.
(4) Represents the incremental tax effect on net income, adjusted for the items noted above, assuming that all consolidated net income was subject to corporate taxation for the periods presented. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we assumed effective tax rates of 14.8%, 19.7% and 38.4%, respectively.
Question:
What does Incremental pro forma tax expense represent?
Answer: the incremental tax effect on net income, adjusted for the items noted above, assuming that all consolidated net income was subject to corporate taxation for the periods presented.