Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Earnings Before Income Taxes and Income Tax Expense

Earnings before income taxes and income tax expense consist of:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
	(in thousands)
Earnings before income taxes:
United States	$	697,501		$	672,221		$	634,515
Foreign	125,936			153,093			139,395
Total	$	823,437		$	825,314		$	773,910
Income tax expense:
Partnership UBT	$	9,196		$	5,251		$	2,986
Corporate subsidiaries:
Federal	(943		)	(4,030		)	18,079
State and local	975			2,888			803
Foreign	32,290			36,529			29,365
Current tax expense	41,518			40,638			51,233
Deferred tax	236			5,178			1,877
Income tax expense	$	41,754		$	45,816		$	53,110

Difference Between the Effective Tax Rates and UBT Statutory Tax Rate

The principal reasons for the difference between the effective tax rates and the UBT statutory tax rate of 4.0% are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2019					2018					2017
	(in thousands)
UBT statutory rate	$	32,937		4.0	%	$	33,012		4.0	%	$	30,956		4.0	%
Corporate subsidiaries' federal, state, and local	4,000			0.5		1,522			0.2		2,558			0.3
Foreign subsidiaries taxed at different rates	26,719			3.3		30,689			3.7		25,406			3.3
2017 Tax Act	—			—		1,155			0.1		25,846			3.3
FIN 48 reserve (release)	2,765			0.3		(5,177		)	(0.6	)	(3,318		)	(0.4	)
UBT business allocation percentage rate change	(79		)	—		2,657			0.3		—			—
Deferred tax and payable write-offs	314			—		2,932			0.4		(9,542		)	(1.2	)
Foreign outside basis difference	155			—		2,273			0.3		—			—
Amended 2017 return	(3,853		)	(0.5	)	—			—		—			—
Effect of ASC 740 adjustments, miscellaneous taxes, and other	2,305			0.3		(2,521		)	(0.3	)	1,903			0.2
Income not taxable resulting from use of UBT business apportionment factors and effect of compensation charge	(23,509		)	(2.8	)	(20,726		)	(2.5	)	(20,699		)	(2.6	)
Income tax expense and effective tax rate	$	41,754		5.1		$	45,816		5.6		$	53,110		6.9

Reconciliation of the Beginning and Ending Amount of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018			2017
	(in thousands)
Balance as of beginning of period	$	3,893	$	8,478		$	12,596
Additions for prior year tax positions	1,813		—			—
Reductions for prior year tax positions	—		—			(1,849		)
Additions for current year tax positions	—		—			—
Reductions for current year tax positions	—		—			—
Reductions related to closed years/settlements with tax authorities	—		(4,585		)	(2,269		)
Balance as of end of period	$	5,706	$	3,893		$	8,478

Tax Effect of Significant Items Comprising the Net Deferred Tax Asset (Liability)

The tax effect of significant items comprising the net deferred tax asset (liability) is as follows:

	December 31,
	2019			2018
	(in thousands)
Deferred tax asset:
Differences between book and tax basis:
Benefits from net operating loss carryforwards	$	5,551		$	2,518
Long-term incentive compensation plans	20,907			22,342
Investment basis differences	4,376			3,606
Depreciation and amortization	1,554			1,248
Lease liability	6,409			—
Other, primarily accrued expenses deductible when paid	3,106			3,903
	41,903			33,617
Less: valuation allowance	(2,026		)	(490		)
Deferred tax asset	39,877			33,127
Deferred tax liability:
Differences between book and tax basis:
Intangible assets	8,013			6,852
Investment in foreign subsidiaries	2,191			1,653
Right-of-use asset	5,191			—
Other	1,672			1,758
Deferred tax liability	17,067			10,263
Net deferred tax asset	$	22,810		$	22,864