Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Provision for income taxes

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

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2023		2022		2021
Current:
Federal	$	34,205	$	56,236	$	52,145
State and local	8,010		11,411		9,096
Foreign	—		—		(48)
Total current income tax provision	42,215		67,647		61,193
Deferred:
Federal	(53,476)		2,882		6,616
State and local	(7,278)		10,770		3,087
Foreign	(1,188)		(738)		293
Total deferred income tax provision	(61,942)		12,914		9,996
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	(19,727)	$	80,561	$	71,189

Effective income tax rate reconciliation

The difference between the statutory rate for federal income tax and the effective income tax rate was as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
Effect of:
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	0.1		7.0		5.6
Non-deductible goodwill impairment	(18.6)		—		—
Non-deductible mark-to-market losses	—		—		11.5
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	(0.2)		(0.3)		(0.9)
Non-deductible expenses	(0.1)		0.2		0.2
Reserve for uncertain tax positions	—		0.7		(0.8)
Other	(0.2)		0.5		1.5
Effective income tax rate	2.0	%	29.1	%	38.1	%

Schedule of deferred income tax (liabilities) assets

The approximate effect of the temporary differences giving rise to deferred income tax assets (liabilities) were as follows:

	As of December 31,
(in thousands)	2023		2022
Temporary differences:
Property and equipment	$	(39,414)	$	(46,710)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	(368,876)		(390,105)
Investments, primarily gains and losses not yet recognized for tax purposes	2,954		5,165
Accrued expenses not deductible until paid	9,869		7,897
Deferred compensation and retiree benefits not deductible until paid	31,662		32,174
Operating lease right-of-use assets	(32,034)		(36,843)
Operating lease liabilities	34,884		39,099
Interest limitation carryforward	38,290		6,375
Other temporary differences, net	10,999		7,305
Total temporary differences	(311,666)		(375,643)
Federal and state net operating loss carryforwards	16,283		20,283
Valuation allowance for state deferred tax assets	(11,997)		(15,097)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(307,380)	$	(370,457)

Gross unrecognized tax benefit reconciliation

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

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2023		2022		2021
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	12,124	$	10,572	$	2,376
Increases in tax positions for prior years	3,321		2,965		22,348
Decreases in tax positions for prior years	(2)		(390)		—
Increases in tax positions for current years	257		796		3,164
Decreases from lapse in statute of limitations	(670)		(173)		(4,234)
Decreases due to settlements with taxing authorities	—		(1,646)		(13,082)
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	15,030	$	12,124	$	10,572