Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Components of income tax expense/(benefit) are as follows (amounts in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Current
Federal	$	352,433		$	368,957		$	363,734
Foreign		10,625			8,513			3,151
State		37,421			42,166			38,987
		400,479			419,636			405,872
Deferred
Federal		(36,998	)		(12,092	)		(15,912	)
Foreign		24			2,463			5,545
State		192			(820	)		(302	)
		(36,782	)		(10,449	)		(10,669	)
Total	$	363,697		$	409,187		$	395,203

Reconciliation Between Federal Statutory Rate and Effective Tax Rate

A reconciliation between the federal statutory rate and the effective tax rate is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Federal statutory rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		2.2	%		2.4	%		2.3	%
Tax effects of foreign operations		-1.2	%		-0.8	%		-0.9	%
Tax benefit from settlement of employee equity awards		-1.9	%		0.0	%		0.0	%
Enactment of the TCJA-17		-1.7	%		0.0	%		0.0	%
Other items		0.2	%		0.2	%		0.3	%
Impact of income attributable to noncontrolling interests		-0.6	%		-1.4	%		-2.2	%
Effective tax rate		32.0	%		35.4	%		34.5	%

Components of Deferred Taxes

The components of deferred taxes are as follows (amounts in thousands):   

		Year Ended December 31,
		2017							2016
		Assets				Liabilities			Assets				Liabilities
Self-insurance reserves	$		64,181		$			$		85,940		$
Compensation accruals			63,021							83,328
Doubtful accounts and other reserves			20,809							38,017
Other currently non-deductible accrued liabilities			19,759							24,058
Depreciable and amortizable assets							226,389							332,326
State and foreign net operating loss carryforwards and other state and foreign deferred tax assets			76,439							66,639
Net pension liabilities – OCI only			2,825							5,926
Other combined items – OCI only							550			815
Other liabilities							1,824							2,949
	$		247,034		$		228,763	$		304,723		$		335,275
Valuation Allowance			(70,227	)			0			(56,333	)			0
Total deferred income taxes	$		176,807		$		228,763	$		248,390		$		335,275

Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The tabular reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 is as follows (amounts in thousands).

	As of  December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Balance at January 1,	$	1,259		$	1,982		$	2,402
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		500			50			50
Additions for tax positions of prior years		47			74			111
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		0			(94	)		(524	)
Settlements		(710	)		(753	)		(57	)
Balance at December 31,	$	1,096		$	1,259		$	1,982