Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Components of current and deferred income tax expense (benefit) are as follows ($000’s omitted):

 

	2024		2023		2022
Current expense
Federal	$	649,308	$	622,205	$	615,434
State and other	122,212		120,424		100,223
	$	771,520	$	742,629	$	715,657
Deferred expense
Federal	$	120,415	$	72,854	$	55,653
State and other	30,682		31,412		50,931
	$	151,097	$	104,266	$	106,584
Income tax expense	$	922,617	$	846,895	$	822,241

Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The following table reconciles the statutory federal income tax rate to the effective income tax rate:

 

	2024		2023		2022
Income taxes at federal statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax	3.6		3.5		3.4
Federal tax credits	(1.1)		(0.2)		(0.9)
Other	(0.5)		0.3		0.4
Effective rate	23.0	%	24.6	%	23.9	%

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Components of our net deferred tax liability are as follows ($000’s omitted):

 

	At December 31,
	2024		2023
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued insurance	$	92,283	$	140,126
Inventory valuation reserves	51,370		58,819
Capitalized inventory expenses	43,338		39,037
State NOL carryforwards	73,550		83,601
Other	66,055		65,432
	326,596		387,015
Deferred tax liabilities:
Deferred income	(630,888)		(537,855)
Fixed assets and intangibles	(21,882)		(27,890)
Other	(39,983)		(33,909)
	(692,753)		(599,654)
Valuation allowance	(22,368)		(24,756)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(388,525)	$	(237,395)

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

A reconciliation of the change in the unrecognized tax benefits is as follows ($000’s omitted):

 

	2024		2023		2022
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of period	$	58,228	$	23,612	$	22,536
Increases related to positions taken during a prior period	544		34,687		—
Decreases related to positions taken during a prior period	(17,992)		—		(303)
Increases related to positions taken during the current period	—		—		1,450
Decreases related to settlements with taxing authorities	(1,994)		—		—
Decreases related to lapse of the applicable statute of limitations	(71)		(71)		(71)
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of period	$	38,715	$	58,228	$	23,612