Income Taxes

The Company recorded provisional amounts and a reasonable estimate in its provision for income taxes and estimated deferred tax assets, for the impact of TCJA.

The provision (benefit) for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017		2016			2015
Current:
Federal	$	133,097	$	156,937		$	181,640
State	24,944		34,927			36,281
Foreign	27,079		20,725			13,892
Deferred:
Federal and state	41,717		(3,785		)	(8,398		)
Foreign	95		1,917			(181		)
	$	226,932	$	210,721		$	223,234

Income before the provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Domestic	$	445,418	$	494,890	$	528,916
Foreign	72,098		59,220		52,114
	$	517,516	$	554,110	$	581,030

The income taxes shown above varied from the statutory federal income tax rates for these periods as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Federal U.S. income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	3.7		4.2		4.2
Non-deductible expenses	0.4		0.5		0.5
Non-U.S. income taxed at different rates, net of foreign tax credits	—		(0.6	)	0.1
Federal tax credits	(1.3	)	(0.8	)	(0.6	)
Tax impact of uncertain tax positions	0.2		—		(0.2	)
Valuation allowance release, net	—		(0.1	)	(0.5	)
Tax effects of TCJA	6.5		—		—
Other, net	(0.6	)	(0.2	)	(0.1	)
Effective tax rate	43.9	%	38.0	%	38.4	%

In accordance with TCJA, the Company remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities, based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future. The Company is still analyzing certain aspects of TCJA and refining our calculation, which could potentially affect the measurement of these balances or give rise to different deferred tax amounts. The provisional amount and reasonable estimate recorded related to the re-measurement of the Company’s deferred tax balance was $34.6 million.

The Company recorded provisional amounts and a reasonable estimate for the one-time transition tax on its total post-1986 foreign earnings and profits, as required by TCJA. A provisional amount of $7.7 million in connection with the transition tax is offset by foreign tax credits in the Company's current income tax expense. The Company anticipates additional guidance will be released by the government throughout 2018 that may require the Company to adjust this estimate during the measurement period prescribed by SAB 118. No additional income taxes have been provided for any remaining undistributed foreign earnings not subject to the transition tax, or any additional outside basis differences inherent in our foreign entities, as the Company is still in the process of evaluating its foreign cash needs, and how much, if any, of the amount of earnings should be considered indefinitely reinvested.

The deferred portion of the tax provision (benefit) consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Amortization of franchise rights	$	495		$	500		$	514
Amortization of other intangibles	1,193			1,221			1,590
Accrued expenses, deducted for tax when paid	15,213			(6,889		)	(17,664		)
Capitalized costs for books, deducted for tax	(5,790		)	5,901			5,315
Depreciation	(4,079		)	(2,405		)	(5,932		)
Federal impact of unrecognized tax benefits	39			75			1,058
Foreign tax credit carryforwards	—			—			3,636
Tax effects of TCJA	34,633			—			—
Other, net	108			(271		)	2,904
	$	41,812		$	(1,868	)	$	(8,579	)

The components of the deferred income tax amounts at December 31, 2017 and 2016, were as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2017			2016
Deferred Income Tax Assets
Provision for bad debts	$	6,794		$	10,510
Deferred compensation and other benefit obligations	68,101			112,811
Workers’ compensation	3,127			5,634
Stock-based compensation	8,614			16,772
Credits and net operating loss carryforwards	30,087			30,534
Other	13,343			18,116
Total deferred income tax assets	130,066			194,377
Deferred Income Tax Liabilities
Amortization of intangible assets	(20,220		)	(28,681		)
Property and equipment basis differences	(4,421		)	(16,640		)
Other	(10,847		)	(11,658		)
Total deferred income tax liabilities	(35,488		)	(56,979		)
Valuation allowance	(20,178		)	(18,907		)
Total deferred income tax assets, net	$	74,400		$	118,491

Credits and net operating loss carryforwards primarily include net operating losses in foreign countries of $26.4 million that expire in 2018 and later; and California enterprise zone tax credits of $3.5 million that expire in 2023. Of the $3.5 million of California enterprise zone tax credits, the Company expects that it will utilize $2.0 million of these credits prior to expiration. Valuation allowances of $18.7 million have been established for net operating loss carryforwards and other deferred items in foreign countries. In addition, a valuation allowance of $1.5 million has been established for California enterprise zone tax credits.

FASB authoritative guidance prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute criteria for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The literature also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition.

The following table reconciles the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017 (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Balance at beginning of period	$	731		$	814		$	4,573
Gross increases—tax positions in prior years	1,503			92			—
Gross decreases—tax positions in prior years	(257		)	—			(1,807		)
Gross increases—tax positions in current year	956			114			120
Settlements	(40		)	—			(520		)
Lapse of statute of limitations	(7		)	(289		)	(1,552		)
Balance at end of period	$	2,886		$	731		$	814

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate is $2.8 million, $0.5 million and $0.5 million for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

The Company’s continuing practice is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. The total amount of interest and penalties accrued is $0.1 million as of December 31, 2017. The total amount of interest and penalties accrued as of December 31, 2016 is $0.1 million, including a $0.1 million reduction recorded in income tax expense during the year. The total amount of interest and penalties accrued as of December 31, 2015, was $0.2 million, including a $2.3 million reduction recorded in income tax expense during the year.

The Company believes it is reasonably possible that the settlement of certain tax uncertainties could occur within the next twelve months; accordingly, $0.1 million of the unrecognized gross tax benefit has been classified as a current liability as of December 31, 2017. This amount primarily represents unrecognized tax benefits composed of items related to assessed state income tax audits and negotiations.

The Company’s major income tax jurisdictions are the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. For U.S. federal income tax, the Company remains subject to examination for 2014 and subsequent years. For major U.S. states, with few exceptions, the Company remains subject to examination for 2013 and subsequent years. Generally, for the foreign countries, the Company remains subject to examination for 2010 and subsequent years.