Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 were as follows (amounts in thousands):



	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	$	6,397		$	5,127
Accrued employee benefits	4,195			3,420
Stock compensation	1,228			1,503
Accrued self-insurance	2,526			2,257
Acquisition costs	1,510			1,155
Net operating loss carry forward	927			873
Intangible asset impairment	49			55
Uncertain tax position—state tax portion	215			215
Uncertain tax position - interest expense	186			—
Other	121			61
Valuation allowance	(44		)	(44		)
Deferred tax assets	$	17,310		$	14,622
Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortization of intangible assets	(29,370		)	(25,202		)
Tax depreciation in excess of book depreciation	(7,994		)	(7,171		)
Prepaid expenses	(697		)	(786		)
Non-accrual experience accounting method	(1,459		)	(1,223		)
Deferred state tax receivable	—			(49		)
Deferred tax liabilities	(39,520		)	(34,431		)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(22,210	)	$	(19,809	)

Income Tax Expense (benefit) from Continuing operations, Less Noncontrolling Interest

The components of the Company’s income tax expense from continuing operations, less noncontrolling interest, were as follows (amounts in thousands):



	2014		2013		2012
Current:
Federal	$	10,195	$	11,962	$	12,930
State	1,916		1,546		2,377
	12,111		13,508		15,307
Deferred:
Federal	2,187		1,448		1,955
State	215		903		249
	2,402		2,351		2,204
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	14,513	$	15,859	$	17,511

Statutory Rate and Provisions for Income Taxes

A reconciliation of the differences between income tax expense on net income attributable to LHC Group, Inc., computed at the federal statutory rate and provisions for income taxes for each period is as follows (amounts in thousands):



	2014			2013			2012
Income taxes computed at federal statutory tax rate	$	12,723		$	13,360		$	15,733
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	1,407			1,641			1,739
Nondeductible expenses	766			1,022			844
Other items	(99		)	101			40
Income tax credits	(284		)	(265		)	(845		)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	14,513		$	15,859		$	17,511

A reconciliation of the difference between the federal statutory tax rate and the Company's effective tax rate for income taxes for each period is as follows:



	2014		2013		2012
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	3.5		3.5		3.5
Nondeductible expenses	2.3		3.1		2.2
Credits and other	(0.9	)	—		(1.7	)
Effective tax rate	39.9	%	41.6	%	39.0	%

Total amounts of Unrecognized Tax

A reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits follows (amounts in thousands):




Total unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2013	$	3,415
Increases (decreases) in unrecognized tax benefits as a result of:
Tax positions taken during the current period	—
Total unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2014	$	3,415