Note

– Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Current provision:
Federal	$	2,047		$	(23,784	)	$	11,184
State		(1,588	)		(2,265	)		1,310
Foreign		64			100			—
Total current provision		523			(25,949	)		12,494
Deferred (benefit) provision:
Federal		(122,302	)		(248,279	)		31,978
State		(8,864	)		(20,553	)		2,036
Foreign		1,633			(4,312	)		(829	)
Total deferred provision		(129,533	)		(273,144	)		33,185
Provision for income taxes	$	(129,010	)	$	(299,093	)	$	45,679

The following table reconciles the statutory tax rates to the Company’s effective tax rate:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Federal statutory rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State taxes, net of federal benefit		0.3	%		1.4	%		3.0	%
Domestic production activities deduction		—	%		(0.2	)%		(1.0	)%
Effect of foreign losses		(2.0	)%		(0.3	)%		2.4	%
Impairment		(8.8	)%		(9.8	)%		—	%
Valuation allowance		(10.9	)%		—	%		—	%
Other		(1.6	)%		(0.6	)%		0.5	%
Effective income tax rate		12.0	%		25.5	%		39.9	%

The Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

	As of December 31,
	2016			2015
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities	$	25,470		$	8,046
Allowance for doubtful accounts		2,630			7,364
Stock-based compensation		11,530			19,503
Inventory reserve		9,131			8,712
Net operating losses		231,360			68,821
163(j) interest		58,426			15,345
Amortization of goodwill and intangible assets		4,526			—
Other		(3,774	)		(3,567	)
Total deferred tax assets		346,847			131,358
Deferred tax liabilities:
Prepaids		(2,123	)		(9,677	)
Earnout liabilities		—			(4,328	)
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment		(179,428	)		(228,981	)
Amortization of goodwill and intangible assets		—			(28,033	)
Other		(3,873	)		(378	)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(185,424	)		(271,397	)
Valuation allowances		(171,016	)		(77	)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(9,593	)	$	(140,116	)

The Company has approximately

$530.6

million of U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) which, if not utilized, will begin to expire in the year

2035

and state NOLs of approximately

$224.4

million which, if not utilized, will expire in various years between

2025

and

2036

Additionally, the Company has approximately

$105.5

million of NOLs in other jurisdictions which, if not utilized, will expire in various years between

2020

and

2036

As of

December

31,

2016

we have recorded a deferred tax asset of approximately

$231.4

million relating to NOLs. A valuation allowance of

$171.0

million has been provided for NOLs that the Company believes are more likely than not to expire unutilized.

The Company’s U.S. federal income tax returns for the tax years

2013

through

2015

remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service under the applicable U.S. federal statute of limitations provisions. The various states in which the Company is subject to income tax are generally open to examination for the tax years after

2012.

The Company's

2015

Federal income tax return and the Company’s

2011

2012

and

2013

Louisiana tax returns are currently under examination.

During the year ended

December

31,

2016,

the company realized tax expense of

$1.6

million on the deferred charges relating to income tax expense on intercompany profits that resulted from the sale of our intellectual property rights outside of North America to our subsidiary in Luxembourg. The remaining

$14.8

million of deferred charges are included within other noncurrent assets on the consolidated balance sheet. The deferred charges are amortized as a component of income tax expense over the economic life of the intellectual property.

A reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefit balances is as follows (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2016		2015
Balance at beginning of year	$	—	$	—
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		6,525		—
Additions for tax positions of prior years		—		—
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		—		—
Reductions for audit settlements		—		—
Reductions resulting from a lapse of applicable statute of limitations periods		—		—
Balance at end of year	$	6,525	$	—

The balances of unrecognized tax benefits, the amount of related interest and penalties is

$6.5

million as of

December

31,

2016,

all of which is subject to

reasonably possible changes in the next

months.

The Company classifies interest and penalties within the provision for income taxes. The Company recognized interest expense of

zero

in the provision for income taxes for each of the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014.