INCOME TAXES

Our provisions for income taxes and our cash taxes paid are as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2015			2014			2013
Current:
Domestic	$	11,028		$	17,856		$	45,468
Foreign	65,132			106,575			73,568
Total current	76,160			124,431			119,036
Deferred:
Domestic	40,284			73,520			56,115
Foreign	(11,194		)	(2,803		)	(4,315		)
Total deferred	29,090			70,717			51,800
Total provision for income taxes	$	105,250		$	195,148		$	170,836
Cash taxes paid	$	119,591		$	139,724		$	113,760

The components of income before income taxes are as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2013
Domestic	$	51,018	$	110,800	$	68,066
Foreign	285,243		512,677		474,270
Income before income taxes	$	336,261	$	623,477	$	542,336

As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, our worldwide deferred tax assets, liabilities and net deferred tax liabilities were as follows:



	December 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014
Deferred tax assets:
Deferred compensation	$	46,973	$	50,829
Deferred income	18,787		16,305
Accrued expenses	12,624		9,235
Other	55,547		27,808
Gross deferred tax assets	133,931		104,177
Valuation allowance	—		—
Total deferred tax assets	$	133,931	$	104,177
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	$	126,079	$	128,958
Unremitted foreign earnings not considered indefinitely reinvested	296,018		238,133
Basis difference in equity investments	7,678		8,947
Other	—		1,088
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	429,775	$	377,126
Net deferred income tax liability	$	295,844	$	272,949

Our net deferred tax liability is reflected within our balance sheet as follows:



	December 31,
(in thousands)	2015			2014
Deferred tax liabilities	$	353,181		$	322,758
Current deferred tax assets	(57,337		)	(49,809		)
Net deferred income tax liability	$	295,844		$	272,949

At December 31, 2015, we had approximately $40 million of foreign tax credits and $9.6 million of net operating losses available to reduce future payments of U.S. federal income taxes. The tax credits expire commencing in 2024, and the net operating losses expire commencing in 2032. We believe it is more likely than not that all our deferred tax assets are realizable. Reconciliations between the actual provision for income taxes on continuing operations and that computed by applying the United States statutory rate to income before income taxes were as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
United States statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State and local taxes	—		0.1		0.2
Foreign tax rate differential	(2.5	)	(2.6	)	(3.7	)
Other items, net	(1.2	)	(1.2	)	—
Total effective tax rate	31.3	%	31.3	%	31.5	%

We consider $641 million of unremitted earnings of our foreign subsidiaries to be indefinitely reinvested. It is not practical for us to compute the amount of additional U.S. tax that would be due on this amount. We have provided deferred income taxes on the foreign earnings not considered indefinitely reinvested.

We recognize the benefit for a tax position if the benefit is more likely than not to be sustainable upon audit by the applicable taxing authority. If this threshold is met, the tax benefit is then measured and recognized at the largest amount that we believe is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement.

We account for any applicable interest and penalties on uncertain tax positions as a component of our provision for income taxes on our financial statements. We increased/(decreased) income tax expense by $(0.9) million, $(0.4) million and $1.7 million in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, for penalties and interest on uncertain tax positions, which brought our total liabilities for penalties and interest on uncertain tax positions to $2.0 million and $2.9 million on our balance sheets at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. All additions or reductions to those liabilities would affect our effective income tax rate in the periods of change.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits, not including associated foreign tax credits and penalties and interest, is as follows:



	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2015			2014			2013
Beginning of year	$	5,575		$	7,168		$	5,140
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	260			432			100
Reductions for expiration of statutes of limitations	(1,649		)	(1,572		)	(1,225		)
Additions based on tax positions related to prior years	1,059			254			3,490
Reductions based on tax positions related to prior years	—			(707		)	(337		)
Settlements	—			—			—
Balance at end of year	$	5,245		$	5,575		$	7,168

Including associated foreign tax credits and penalties and interest, we have accrued a net total of $5.7 million in the caption "other long-term liabilities" on our balance sheet at December 31, 2015 for unrecognized tax benefits. We do not believe that the total of unrecognized tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease in the next 12 months.

We file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return for Oceaneering International, Inc. and our domestic subsidiaries. We conduct our international operations in a number of locations that have varying laws and regulations with regard to income and other taxes, some of which are subject to interpretation. Our management believes that adequate provisions have been made for all taxes that will ultimately be payable, although final determination of tax liabilities may differ from our estimates.

Our tax returns are subject to audit by taxing authorities in multiple jurisdictions. These audits often take years to complete and settle. The following lists the earliest tax years open to examination by tax authorities where we have significant operations:



Jurisdiction		Periods
United States		2012
United Kingdom		2012
Norway		2005
Angola		2010
Brazil		2010
Australia		2011