INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

INCOME TAXES

Income tax expense consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2022		2021		2020
Current:
Federal	$	23,741	$	42,049	$	53,297
State	12,423		12,787		12,106
Foreign	489		213		446
	36,653		55,049		65,849
Deferred:
Federal	38,521		27,593		(8,988)
State	4,032		1,895		(1,245)
	42,553		29,488		(10,233)
Total income tax expense	$	79,206	$	84,537	$	55,616

The effective income tax rate differs from the federal corporate tax rate of 21% in 2022, 2021, and 2020 as follows (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2022		2021		2020
Tax at statutory rate	$	68,205	$	72,663	$	47,186
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefits	12,999		11,599		8,580
Other, net	(1,998)		275		(150)
Total income tax expense	$	79,206	$	84,537	$	55,616

At December 31, deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2022		2021
Deferred income tax assets:
Insurance and claims accruals	$	59,275	$	55,233
Compensation-related accruals	10,767		12,203
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	3,218		3,958
Operating lease liabilities	10,324		7,033
Other	981		1,644
Gross deferred income tax assets	84,565		80,071
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	344,896		305,002
Investments in equity securities	12,818		10,985
Prepaid expenses	7,526		7,269
Operating lease right-of-use assets	10,056		6,955
Investment in partnership	19,745		17,076
Other	2,802		1,283
Gross deferred income tax liabilities	397,843		348,570
Net deferred income tax liability	$	313,278	$	268,499

Deferred income tax assets are more likely than not to be realized as a result of the reversal of deferred income tax liabilities.

We recognized a $54 thousand and $49 thousand increase in the net liability for unrecognized tax benefits for the year ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, respectively. We recognized net interest expense of $42 thousand, $10 thousand, and $3 thousand during 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. If recognized, $2.0 million and $1.9 million of unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, would impact our effective tax rate. Interest of $0.5 million and $0.4 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, has been reflected as a component of the total liability. We expect no other significant increases or decreases for uncertain tax positions during the next 12 months. The reconciliations of beginning and ending gross balances of unrecognized tax benefits for 2022 and 2021 are shown below (in thousands).

	December 31,
	2022		2021
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning balance	$	2,425	$	2,363
Gross increases – tax positions in prior period	99		65
Gross increases – current period tax positions	320		320
Settlements	(349)		(323)
Unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	2,495	$	2,425

We file U.S. federal income tax returns, as well as income tax returns in various states and several foreign jurisdictions. The years 2019 and forward are open for examination by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and various years are open for examination by state and foreign tax authorities. State and foreign jurisdictional statutes of limitations generally range from three to four years.