INCOME TAXES

The Company follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Codification 740 (“ASC 740”), “Income Taxes.” A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:



	2016			2015			2014
Beginning of year	$	5,375,000		$	8,288,000		$	7,351,000
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	756,000			1,765,000			1,328,000
Additions for tax positions in prior years	487,000			428,000			634,000
Reductions for tax positions in prior years	(2,949,000		)	(336,000		)	(676,000		)
Reductions as a result of completed audit examinations	—			(4,162,000		)	—
Reductions as a result of a lapse of the applicable statute of limitations	(261,000		)	(608,000		)	(349,000		)
End of year	$	3,408,000		$	5,375,000		$	8,288,000

If recognized, unrecognized tax benefits would affect the effective tax rate.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits through the provision for income taxes. The Company has accrued approximately $277,000 and $325,000 for interest as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Interest recorded during 2016, 2015 and 2014 was not considered significant.

The Company is also subject to periodic and routine audits in both domestic and foreign tax jurisdictions, and it is reasonably possible that the amounts of unrecognized tax benefits could change as a result of an audit.

Based on the current audits in process, the payment of taxes as a result of audit settlements, and the completion of tax examinations, the Company does not expect these to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

For the majority of tax jurisdictions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2012.

The provision for income taxes is based on the earnings reported in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company recognizes deferred income tax liabilities and assets for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the consolidated financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred income tax liabilities and assets are determined based on the cumulative temporary differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates. Deferred income tax expense is measured by the net change in deferred income tax assets and liabilities during the year.

The foreign components of income before the provision for income taxes were not material as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. The components of the provision for income taxes are as follows:



	2016		2015		2014
Currently payable:
Federal	$	136,124,497	$	129,379,597	$	108,689,911
State	3,805,000		2,908,000		2,236,000
Foreign	540,000		276,000		978,000
Total	140,469,497		132,563,597		111,903,911
Net deferred:
Primarily federal	22,500,000		12,558,000		14,818,000
Provision for income taxes	$	162,969,497	$	145,121,597	$	126,721,911

The currently payable provision is further reduced by the tax benefits associated with the exercise, vesting or disposition of stock under the stock plans described in Note 5. These reductions totaled approximately $11.8 million, $5.0 million and $10.8 million in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively, and were recognized as an adjustment of additional paid-in capital.

The effective income tax rates are different from the statutory federal income tax rates for the following reasons:



	2016		2015		2014
Statutory federal income tax rate	35.00	%	35.00	%	35.00	%
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	0.50		0.40		0.30
Domestic production exclusion	(2.70	)	(2.80	)	(2.60	)
Research tax credit ⁽¹⁾	(0.80	)	(0.80	)	(2.00	)
Reduction in Reserve for Uncertain Tax Provisions	(0.20	)	(0.60	)	—
Other	0.10		0.10		(0.20	)
Effective income tax rate	31.90	%	31.30	%	30.50	%

⁽¹⁾ - Research tax credits applied in 2014 related to prior tax year amended tax filings were approximately 1.3 percentage points of the 2 percentage point reduction in the effective income tax rate.

The tax effect of temporary differences which give rise to deferred income tax assets and liabilities at December 31, 2016 and 2015, are as follows:



	December 31,
	2016			2015
Assets:
Accruals not currently deductible	$	4,282,470		$	4,157,660
Stock based compensation	18,701,361			20,360,105
Other	3,924,945			3,928,824
Total deferred income tax assets	26,908,776			28,446,589
Liabilities:
Excess tax over book depreciation	(65,642,206		)	(53,538,861		)
Goodwill	(23,225,969		)	(16,047,068		)
Unrealized gain on investments	(1,435,322		)	(961,980		)
Intangible assets	(5,368,886		)	(3,056,712		)
Other	(2,449,012		)	(2,114,430		)
Net deferred income taxes	$	(71,212,619	)	$	(47,272,462	)

As further described in Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, the Company adopted ASU 2015-17, Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes, on a prospective basis (prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted) in the first quarter of 2016. As a result, deferred tax liabilities and assets are classified as long-term in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2016. Net current and non-current tax assets and liabilities are included in the consolidated balance sheets as follows:



	December 31,
	2016			2015
Current assets	—			24,366,588
Current liabilities	—			(2,114,430		)
Long-term assets	26,908,776			4,080,001
Long-term liabilities	(98,121,395		)	(73,604,621		)
Total deferred tax liability	$	(71,212,619	)	$	(47,272,462	)

Income taxes paid in cash were approximately $144.1 million, $138.0 million and $128.8 million in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

No provision has been made for U.S. Federal and State income taxes on foreign taxes that may result from remittances of undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. The Company expects such earnings will remain reinvested in those foreign subsidiaries indefinitely. Undistributed foreign earnings were not material as of December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.