Income taxes are recognized for the amount of taxes payable or refundable for the current year and deferred tax liabilities and assets for the future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our consolidated financial statements or tax returns. The effects of income taxes are measured based on enacted tax laws and rates.

The provision for (benefit from) income taxes from continuing operations consisted of the following:

	Year ended December 31
In thousands	2019			2018			2017
Current taxes
Federal	$	(419	)	$	—		$	(1,323	)
State		134			442			107
Foreign		14,014			14,985			14,292
		13,729			15,427			13,076
Deferred taxes and other
Federal		(20,448	)		(9,242	)		5,375
State		(4,105	)		251			2,652
Foreign		1,582			1,287			3,976
		(22,971	)		(7,704	)		12,003
Income tax provision (benefit)	$	(9,242	)	$	7,723		$	25,079

The following are the domestic and foreign components of pretax income (loss) from continuing operations:

	Year ended December 31
In thousands	2019			2018			2017
United States	$	(107,455	)	$	(59,264	)	$	(60,788	)
Foreign		73,002			66,539			80,255
Total pretax income (loss)	$	(34,453	)	$	7,275		$	19,467

The following table sets forth a reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to our actual effective tax rate for continuing operations.

	Year ended December 31
	2019			2018			2017
Federal income tax provision at statutory rate		21.0	%		21.0	%		35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		3.7			(15.9	)		(1.8	)
Foreign income tax rate differential		2.0			(18.9	)		(58.0	)
Tax effect of tax credits		8.2			1.3			(20.1	)
Provision for (resolution of) tax matters		(8.0	)		46.5			27.8
Rate changes due to enacted legislation		0.1			7.2			(1.3	)
State benefit due to enacted legislation		—			—			(8.2	)
Effect of U.S. tax law change ⁽¹⁾		—			(7.5	)		107.5
Global Intangible Low-taxed Income		(9.4	)		33.8			—
Stock-based compensation		(1.0	)		10.0			(0.2	)
Nondeductible officer's compensation		(0.7	)		5.2			—
Valuation allowance		4.3			15.7			47.0
Pension termination, settlement and related		5.0
Other		1.6			7.8			1.1
Actual tax rate		26.8	%		106.2	%		128.8	%

In thousands	2019			2018
Reserves	$	991		$	3,720
Environmental		5,696			10,795
Compensation		3,287			3,957
Post-retirement benefits		1,619			2,133
Research & development expenses	6,439				—
Inventories		(91	)		(35	)
Tax carryforwards		25,227			21,843
Other		1,117			3,506
Deferred tax assets		44,285			45,919
Valuation allowance		(28,485	)		(30,029	)
Net deferred tax assets		15,800			15,890
Property		(65,027	)		(66,426	)
Intangible assets		(19,355	)		(22,231	)
Pension		(6,198	)		(3,890	)
Other		(1,577	)		(1,935	)
Deferred tax liabilities		(92,157	)		(94,482	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(76,357	)	$	(78,592	)

Non-current deferred tax assets and liabilities are included in the following balance sheet captions:

At December 31, 2019 we had federal, state and foreign tax net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards of $62.4 million, $199.3 million and $3.3 million, respectively. These NOL carryforwards are available to offset future taxable income, if any. $30.1 million of the federal NOL carryforward expires in 2037; the remainder does not expire. The state NOL carryforwards expire at various times and in various amounts beginning in 2020 and through 2039. Certain foreign NOL carryforwards begin to expire after 2023.

The federal, state and foreign NOL carryforwards on the income tax returns filed included unrecognized tax benefits taken in prior years. The NOLs for which a deferred tax asset is recognized for financial statement purposes in accordance with ASC 740 are presented net of these unrecognized tax benefits.

In addition, we had various federal tax credit carryforwards totaling $12.5 million which begin to expire after 2036, state tax credit carryforwards totaling $1.4 million, which begin to expire in 2020, and foreign investment tax credits of $2.5 million which begin to expire after 2027.

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, we had a valuation allowance of $28.5 million and $30.0 million, respectively, against net deferred tax assets, primarily due to uncertainty regarding the ability to utilize federal, state and foreign tax NOL carryforwards and certain state tax credits. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, management considers all available positive and negative evidence in its analysis. Based on this analysis, we recorded a valuation allowance for the portion of deferred tax assets where the weight of available evidence indicated it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Tax credits and other incentives reduce tax expense in the year the credits are claimed. We recorded tax credits of $2.8 million, $(0.1) million and $3.9 million in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, related to research and development credits.

At December 31, 2019 and 2018, unremitted earnings of subsidiaries outside the United States deemed to be indefinitely reinvested totaled $62.0 million and $29.0 million, respectively. Because the unremitted earnings of subsidiaries are deemed to be indefinitely reinvested as of December 31, 2019 and because we have no need for or plans to repatriate such earnings, no deferred tax liability has been recognized in our consolidated financial statements.

As of December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, we had $30.5 million, $29.6 million and $26.9 million of gross unrecognized tax benefits, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, if such benefits were to be recognized, approximately $19.6 million would be recorded as a component of income tax expense, thereby affecting our effective tax rate.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

In millions	2019			2018			2017
Balance at January 1	$	29.6		$	26.9		$	14.2
Increases in tax positions for prior years		2.8			0.3			1.7
Decreases in tax positions for prior years		(2.9	)		(1.0	)		—
Acquisition related:
Purchase Accounting		—			0.3			—
Increases in tax positions for current year		4.6			4.0			11.9
Settlements		(0.3	)		(0.2	)		—
Lapse in statutes of limitation		(3.3	)		(0.7	)		(0.9	)
Balance at December 31	$	30.5		$	29.6		$	26.9

We, or one of our subsidiaries, file income tax returns with the United States Internal Revenue Service, as well as various state and foreign authorities. The following table summarizes tax years that remain subject to examination by major jurisdiction:

	Open Tax Years
Jurisdiction	Examinations not yet initiated	Examination in progress
United States
Federal	2016 - 2019	N/A
State	2015 - 2019	2015 - 2018
Canada⁽¹⁾	2012 - 2019	N/A
Germany⁽¹⁾	2016 - 2019	N/A
France	2018 - 2019	N/A
United Kingdom	2018 - 2019	N/A
Philippines	2019	2016 - 2018

The amount of income taxes we pay is subject to ongoing audits by federal, state and foreign tax authorities, which often result in proposed assessments. Management performs a comprehensive review of its global tax positions on a quarterly basis and accrues amounts for uncertain tax positions. Based on these reviews and the result of discussions and resolutions of matters with certain tax authorities and the closure of tax years subject to tax audit, reserves are adjusted as necessary. However, future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are determined or resolved or as such statutes are closed. Due to potential for resolution of federal, state and foreign examinations, and the expiration of various statutes of limitation, it is reasonably possible our gross unrecognized tax benefits balance may decrease within the next twelve months by a range of zero to $1.6 million. The majority of this range relates to tax positions taken in Canada and the U.S.

We recognize interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as income tax expense. The following table summarizes information related to interest and penalties on uncertain tax positions:

	As of or for the year ended December 31,
In millions	2019			2018		2017
Accrued interest payable	$	0.4		$	1.1	$	0.8
Interest expense (income)		(0.7	)		0.3		0.3
Penalties	–			–		–