INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of reconciliation of effective income tax rate related to continuing operations

The Company’s effective income tax rate related to continuing operations varied from the maximum federal income tax rate as follows:

	For The Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Statutory federal income tax rate applied to pre-tax income	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes	4.9		0.6		0.8
Investment income not subject to tax	(2.9	)	(5.0	)	(2.7	)
Prior period adjustments	(2.8	)	—		—
Federal Tax law changes	—		(183.3	)	—
Other	0.9		(1.6	)	0.7
	21.1	%	(154.3	)%	33.8	%

Schedule of components of income tax

The components of the Company’s income tax are as follows:

	For The Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Current income tax expense:
Federal	$	87,276		$	21,853		$	(50,638	)
State	8,285			4,399			3,919
Total current	$	95,561		$	26,252		$	(46,719	)
Deferred income tax expense:
Federal	$	(30,629	)	$	(693,860	)	$	240,127
State	15,725			(3,867		)	7,560
Total deferred	$	(14,904	)	$	(697,727	)	$	247,687

Schedule of components of the Company's net deferred income tax liability

The components of the Company’s net deferred income tax liability are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2018			2017
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Loss and credit carryforwards	$	46,236		$	209,401
Deferred compensation	126,398			138,945
Deferred policy acquisition costs	116,044			23,876
Premium on corporate debt	46,154			57,402
Net unrealized loss on investments	374,905			—
Other	25,691			28,179
Valuation allowance	(5,079		)	(3,951		)
	730,349			453,852
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Premium receivables and policy liabilities	408,502			573,469
VOBA and other intangibles	478,526			433,321
Invested assets (other than unrealized gains (losses))	682,637			672,549
Net unrealized gains on investments	—			6,920
	1,569,665			1,686,259
Net deferred income tax liability	$	(839,316	)	$	(1,232,407	)

Schedule of reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits

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

	As of December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Balance, beginning of period	$	11,353		$	9,856		$	13,138
Additions for tax positions of the current year	—			1,857			2,122
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—			70			1,318
Reductions of tax positions of prior years:
Changes in judgment	(4,219		)	(430		)	(975		)
Settlements during the period	—			—			(5,747		)
Lapses of applicable statute of limitations	—			—			—
Balance, end of period	$	7,134		$	11,353		$	9,856