Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Components of Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes

The provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations consists of (in thousands):



	For the year ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
Current:
U.S. federal	$	106,700		$	709		$	(194	)
U.S. state and local	19,665			4,081			2,902
Non U.S.	958			(828		)	3,773
	$	127,323		$	3,962		$	6,481
Deferred:
U.S. federal	$	25,221		30,331			(106,996		)
U.S. state and local	(16,803		)	(10,997		)	—
Non U.S.	(4,883		)	(543		)	(599		)
	$	3,535		$	18,791		$	(107,595	)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	130,858		$	22,753		$	(101,114	)

Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The following table reconciles the U.S. federal statutory income tax to the Company's actual income tax from continuing operations (in thousands):



	For the year ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
U.S. federal income tax expense at statutory rate	$	132,987		$	29,815		$	8,742
Income not subject to U.S. corporate income tax	—			—			(15,583		)
U.S. state and local income tax expense (benefit), net of U.S. federal income tax effect	18,101			(4,495		)	1,881
Recognition of state deferred tax assets and net operating losses, net of U.S. federal income tax effect	(16,242		)	—			—
Deferred tax benefit resulting from the Company becoming subject to U.S. corporate income taxes	—			—			(103,499		)
Nondeductible expenses ⁽¹⁾	3,223			230			3,627
Federal research & development tax credits	(3,753		)	(1,241		)	—
Foreign taxes	(3,927		)	(1,371		)	3,603
Other, net	469			(185		)	115
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	130,858		$	22,753		$	(101,114	)

⁽¹⁾Nondeductible expenses include nondeductible compensation and meals and entertainment.

Components of Net Deferred Tax Assets

At December 31, 2015, and December 31, 2014, the Company’s net deferred tax assets were $151.2 million and $154.8 million, respectively, and comprised the following:



	December 31, 2015			December 31, 2014
Deferred tax assets:
Employee compensation and benefit plans	$	41,447		$	24,587
Fixed assets and other amortizable assets	79,765			82,882
Reserves	7,875			2,668
Valuation of investments	13,590			32,962
Net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits, net	43,419			94,770
Less: Valuation allowance on net operating loss carryforwards	(9,715		)	(15,238		)
Total deferred tax assets	$	176,381		$	222,631

Deferred tax liabilities:
Fixed assets and other amortizable assets	243			26,244
Reserves	—			2,226
Valuation of investments	280			19,912
Reduction in foreign tax credit for Non-U.S. NOL carryforwards	24,633			19,490
Total deferred tax liabilities	25,156			67,872
Net deferred tax assets	$	151,225		$	154,759

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Amount of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The following table reconciles the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits (in thousands):



	December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Balance at beginning of period	$	2,312	$	1,464
Increases based on tax positions related to prior periods	1,332		1,843
Decreases based on tax positions related to prior periods	—		(995		)
Balance at the end of the period	$	3,644	$	2,312