Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

8. INCOME TAXES

Components of the provision for income taxes are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
(in millions)	2024		2023		2022
Current provision:
Federal	$	75.2	$	74.4	$	41.0
State and local	24.4		22.8		19.7
Foreign	—		(0.1)		—
	99.6		97.1		60.7
Deferred provision:
Federal	44.2		42.5		79.9
State and local	0.3		4.9		28.8
	44.5		47.4		108.7
Income tax provision	$	144.1	$	144.5	$	169.4

Income from operations before provision for income taxes were as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
(in millions)	2024		2023		2022
Domestic	$	573.2	$	561.8	$	608.9
Foreign	—		—		(0.1)
Income from operations before provision for income taxes	$	573.2	$	561.8	$	608.8

Our income tax provision is different from the amount computed by applying the federal statutory income tax rate to income from operations before taxes as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
(in millions)	2024		2023		2022
Federal statutory tax on earnings before income taxes	$	120.3	$	117.9	$	127.9
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	20.3		21.6		32.6
Non-deductible officer's compensation	7.5		6.1		7.6
Other	(4.0)		(1.1)		1.3
Income tax provision	$	144.1	$	144.5	$	169.4

Components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows:

	December 31,
(in millions)	2024		2023
Deferred tax assets:
§ 163(j) interest expense limitation carryforward	$	91.2	$	55.0
Lease liabilities	17.2		16.5
Net operating losses and credits carryforward	8.6		6.5
Deferred liabilities	10.1		8.1
Deferred compensation plans	9.3		7.9
Deferred income	3.5		3.3
Deferred tax assets	139.9		97.3
Valuation allowance	(4.6)		(4.6)
Net deferred tax asset	135.3		92.7
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment in excess of tax basis	220.8		195.1
Equity investments in excess of tax basis	157.3		148.0
Intangible assets in excess of tax basis	169.0		116.9
Right-of-use assets	16.1		15.9
Other	4.8		5.0
Deferred tax liabilities	568.0		480.9
Net deferred tax liability	$	(432.7)	$	(388.2)

As of December 31, 2024, we had U.S. state and foreign net operating losses with tax values of $8.0 million and $0.5 million, respectively. We have recorded a valuation allowance of $4.6 million due to the fact that it is unlikely that we will generate income in certain state and foreign jurisdictions which is necessary to utilize the deferred tax assets. We also had U.S. state tax credits with a tax value of $2.2 million that do not expire which we expect to fully utilize.

The Internal Revenue Service's most recent audit was completed for tax year 2012. Tax years 2021 and after are open to examination. As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $3.2 million of total gross unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest of $0.4 million. If the total gross unrecognized tax benefits were recognized, there would be a $3.0 million effect to the annual effective tax rate. We anticipate a decrease in our unrecognized tax positions of approximately $0.2 million during the next twelve months primarily due to expected settlements with tax authorities and the expiration of statutes of limitation.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

(in millions)	2024		2023		2022
Balance as of January 1	$	4.8	$	6.4	$	3.9
Additions for tax positions related to the current year	0.3		0.2		0.1
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—		0.3		2.9
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(1.9)		(2.1)		(0.5)
Balance as of December 31	$	3.2	$	4.8	$	6.4