Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

10.Income Taxes

Income before taxes is as follows:

		2012		2011		2010
Income before taxes
	United States	$	81,482	$	65,271	$	52,110
	Foreign		4,458		3,429		2,216
Total income before taxes		$	85,940	$	68,700	$	54,326

The components of income tax expense consist of the following:

			2012		2011		2010
United States
	Current payable
		Federal	$	25,535	$	20,741	$	17,060
		State		4,494		3,696		2,751
	Deferred
		Federal		1,308		628		538
		State		220		120		95
Total U.S. tax expense				31,557		25,185		20,444
International
	Current payable			1,252		1,109		826
	Deferred			(346)		(174)		(384)
Total international tax expense				906		935		442
Total income tax expense			$	32,463	$	26,120	$	20,886

Our deferred tax assets and liabilities consist of the following at September 30:

		2012		2011
Deferred tax assets:
	Allowance for doubtful accounts	$	958	$	1,005
	Inventories		521		363
	Lease expense		394		282
	Employee benefits		439		740
	Other		368		325
Total deferred tax assets			2,680		2,715
Deferred tax liabilities:
	Property and equipment		(7,684)		(6,534)
	Prepaid expenses		(395)		(316)
	Other		(201)		(182)
Total deferred tax liabilities			(8,280)		(7,032)
Net deferred liabilities		$	(5,600)	$	(4,317)

Other deferred tax assets totaling $770and $758 as of September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, arising from the Company's foreign subsidiary, are subject to full valuation allowance.

Income tax expense differed from income taxes at the U.S. federal statutory tax rate for all periods presented as follows:

	2012		2011		2010
Taxes computed at statutory rate		35.0%		35.0%		35.0%
State income taxes (net of federal income tax benefit)		3.6		3.7		3.5
Foreign		(1.1)		(0.9)		(1.1)
Other		0.3		0.2		1.0
		37.8%		38.0%		38.4%

In general, it is the practice and intention of the Company to reinvest the earnings of its non-U.S. subsidiaries in those operations. As of September 30, 2012, the Company has not made a provision for U.S. income or additional foreign withholding taxes on the excess of the amount for financial reporting over the tax basis of investments in foreign subsidiaries that are essentially permanent in duration. Generally, such amounts become subject to U.S. taxation upon the remittance of dividends and under certain other circumstances. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of deferred tax liability related to investments in foreign subsidiaries because of the complexities of the hypothetical calculation.

A reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	2012		2011		2010
Unrecognized tax benefits – Beginning of year	$	23	$	198	$	223
Gross decreases related to prior period tax positions		(8)		(175)		-
Gross increases related to current period tax positions		-		-		175
Settlements		(15)		-		(200)
Unrecognized tax benefits – End of year	$	0	$	23	$	198

For the fiscal years ended September 30, 2012, 2011 and 2010, the amount included in our income tax expense for tax-related interest and penalties was not significant. Of the $23 unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2011, $15 would have impacted our effective rate, if recognized.Of the $198 unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2010, $15 would have impacted our effective rate, if recognized. We expect no material changes to our unrecognized tax benefits during the next fiscal year. Our policy for classifying interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax benefits is to include such items in income tax expense.

We filed Form 3115 Application of Change in Accounting Method with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. We filed an advance consent request for a non-automatic account method change for tax purposes for which we received approval during fiscal year 2011. Resolution decreased the liability for unrecognized tax benefits by approximately $175.

We are under examination by the IRS for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009. This examination may lead to ordinary course adjustments or proposed adjustments to our taxes.

With few exceptions, we are no longer subject to income tax examination for years before 2007 in the U.S. and significant state and local jurisdictions. We are no longer subject to income tax examinations for years before 2010 in significant foreign jurisdictions.