11. Income Taxes

Income before income taxes and noncontrolling interest is as follows for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:


	For the years ended
	December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
(in thousands)
U.S. operations	$	154,947	$	158,487	$	136,744
Non-U.S. operations		60,982		35,071		50,856
	$	215,929	$	193,558	$	187,600

The provision for income taxes consists of the following for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.


	For the years ended
	December 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2013
Current provision
Federal	$	7,584	$	—	$	—
State and Local		108		—		—
Foreign		6,762		4,263		3,660
Deferred provision (benefit)
Federal		3,345		—		—
State and Local		48		—		—
Foreign		592		(762)		1,737
Provision for income taxes	$	18,439	$	3,501	$	5,397

The reconciliation of the tax provision at the U.S. Federal Statutory Rate to the provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 is as follows:


	December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
(in thousands, except percentages)
Tax provision at the U.S. federal statutory rate	35.0		—		—
Less: rate attributable to noncontrolling interest	(27.8)		—		—
State, local and foreign taxes, net of federal benefit	1.4	%	1.8	%	2.9	%
Provision for income taxes	8.6	%	1.8	%	2.9	%

The components of the deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:


	December 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014
Deferred income tax assets
Tax Receivable Agreement	$	187,010	$	—
Share-based compensation		5,647		947
Fixed assets		1,083		30
Total deferred income tax assets	$	193,740	$	977
Deferred income tax liabilities
Fixed assets		202		—
Total deferred income tax liabilities	$	202	$	—

Income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 differs from the U.S. federal statutory rate primarily due to the taxation treatment of income attributable to noncontrolling interests in Virtu Financial. These noncontrolling interests are subject to U.S. taxation as partnerships. Accordingly, the income attributable to these noncontrolling interests is reported in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income, but the related U.S. income tax expense attributable to these noncontrolling interests is not reported by the Company as it is the obligation of the individual partners. Income tax expense is also affected by the differing effective tax rates in foreign, state and local jurisdictions where certain of the Company’s subsidiaries are subject to corporate taxation.

Deferred income taxes arise primarily due to the amortization of the deferred tax assets recognized in connection with the IPO (Note 13), differences in the valuation of financial assets and liabilities, and in connection with other temporary differences arising from the deductibility of compensation and depreciation expenses in different time periods for book and income tax return purposes.

There are no expiration dates on the deferred tax assets. The provisions of ASC 740 require that carrying amounts of deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance if, based on the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Accordingly, the need to establish valuation allowances for deferred tax assets is assessed periodically with appropriate consideration given to all positive and negative evidence related to the realization of the deferred tax assets. A valuation allowance against deferred tax assets at the balance sheet date is not considered necessary because it is more likely than not the deferred tax asset will be fully realized. There are no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

The Company is subject to taxation in U.S. federal, state, local and foreign jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2015, the Company’s tax years for 2012 through 2014 and 2009 through 2014 are subject to examination by U.S. and non-U.S. tax authorities, respectively.