Income Taxes

The following table presents the components of income tax expense for continuing operations, discontinued operations, noncontrolling interests and the Company:



	Three months ended March 31,
	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Income from continuing operations:
Income before income taxes	$	24,325		$	26,490
Income tax expense	7,438			8,572
Net income from continuing operations	$	16,887		$	17,918
Effective tax rate, continuing operations	30.6		%	32.4		%

Income from discontinued operations:
Income before income taxes	$	3,530		$	3,663
Income tax expense	1,465			1,569
Net income from discontinued operations	$	2,065		$	2,094
Effective tax rate, discontinued operations	41.5		%	42.8		%

Less: Income attributable to noncontrolling interests:
Income before income taxes	$	911		$	1,229
Income tax expense	—			—
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	$	911		$	1,229
Effective tax rate, noncontrolling interests	—		%	—		%

Income attributable to the Company
Income before income taxes	$	26,944		$	28,924
Income tax expense	8,903			10,141
Net income attributable to the Company	$	18,041		$	18,783
Effective tax rate attributable to the Company	33.0		%	35.1		%

The effective tax rate for continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 of 30.6%, with related tax expense of $7.4 million, was calculated based on a projected 2016 annual effective tax rate. The effective tax rate was less than the statutory rate of 35% due primarily to earnings from tax-exempt investments, income tax credits, and income attributable to noncontrolling interests. These items were partially offset by state and local income taxes.

The effective tax rate for continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015 of 32.4%, with related tax expense of $8.6 million, was calculated based on a projected 2015 annual effective tax rate. The effective tax rate was less than the statutory rate of 35% due primarily to earnings from tax-exempt investments, income tax credits, and income attributable to noncontrolling interests. These items were partially offset by state and local income taxes.

The effective tax rate for continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 is lower than the effective tax rate for the same period in 2015 due primarily to a projected increase in earnings from tax-exempt investments and lower projected income for the full year of 2016, as compared to the similar projections as of March 31, 2015 for the full year of 2015.