INCOME TAXES

Income before income taxes was taxed in the following jurisdictions in each of the years ended December 31:



	2017		2016		2015
	(Dollars in thousands)
Domestic	$	187,521	$	212,987	$	222,188
Foreign	52,160		18,930		30,698
Total	$	239,681	$	231,917	$	252,886

The components of the (benefit) provision for income taxes were as follows:



	2017			2016			2015
	(Dollars in thousands)
Current:
Federal	$	56,834		$	27,805		$	77,777
State	7,507			(577		)	7,972
Foreign	20,650			6,327			8,002
Current income tax provision	84,991			33,555			93,751
Deferred:
Federal	(118,919		)	42,964			(10,065		)
State	4,413			3,445			(1,932		)
Foreign	(463		)	(1,398		)	(1,281		)
Deferred income tax (benefit) provision	(114,969		)	45,011			(13,278		)
	$	(29,978	)	$	78,566		$	80,473

On December 22, 2017, the 2017 Tax Act was signed into law, making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Changes include, but are not limited to, a federal corporate tax rate decrease from 35 percent to 21 percent effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and a one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of cumulative foreign earnings as of December 31, 2017 as part of the move from a worldwide to a territorial tax system. The 2017 Tax Act also provides for the acceleration of depreciation for certain assets placed into service after September 27, 2017 as well as prospective changes beginning in 2018, including the repeal of the domestic manufacturing deduction, acceleration of tax revenue recognition, capitalization of research and development expenditures, additional limitations on the deductibility of executive compensation and limitations on the deductibility of interest. We recognized the impact of the 2017 Tax Act in our year end income tax provision for 2017 and recorded $110.9 million as an additional income tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2017. This income tax benefit primarily represents the provisional amount related to the remeasurement of net deferred tax liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to be taxed in the future. The provisional estimate also reflects our computation that we will not incur the one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of cumulative foreign earnings.

We recognized the income tax effects of the 2017 Tax Act in our 2017 financial statements in accordance with the Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, or SAB 118, issued by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which provides guidance for the application of GAAP as it pertains to accounting for income taxes, in the reporting period in which the 2017 Tax Act was signed into law. In accordance with SAB 118, we have determined that the $110.9 million deferred tax benefit recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 primarily in connection with the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities and the computation related to the one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of cumulative foreign earnings were provisional amounts and a reasonable estimate at December 31, 2017. Additional work is necessary to complete the analysis of our deferred tax assets and liabilities and our historical foreign earnings. Any subsequent adjustment to the provisional amounts described above will be recorded to current tax expense in the fiscal quarter of 2018 during which the analysis is completed.

The (benefit) provision for income taxes varied from income taxes computed at the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate as a result of the following:



	2017			2016			2015
	(Dollars in thousands)
Income taxes computed at the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	$	83,884		$	81,171		$	88,512
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	4,529			4,264			4,903
Tax liabilities required (no longer required)	1,254			(408		)	2,342
Valuation allowance	4,636			474			1,441
Manufacturing exemption	(5,143		)	(3,613		)	(7,849		)
Tax credit refunds, net	(2,797		)	(2,676		)	(2,325		)
Foreign earnings taxed at other than 35%	(3,840		)	(2,334		)	(6,383		)
Deferred tax rate changes	(114,163		)	(371		)	163
Other	1,662			2,059			(331		)
	$	(29,978	)	$	78,566		$	80,473

Effective tax rate	(12.5		)%	33.9		%	31.8		%

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effect of temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Significant components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31 were as follows:



	2017			2016
	(Dollars in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Pension and other postretirement liabilities	$	21,235		$	14,678
Rationalization and other accrued liabilities	17,716			22,933
Property, plant and equipment	—			331
AMT and other credit carryforwards	1,910			1,449
Net operating loss carryforwards	34,102			21,605
Other intangible assets	—			821
Foreign currency translation	10,170			426
Inventory and related reserves	9,832			16,824
Other	2,093			3,482
Total deferred tax assets	97,058			82,549
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(175,486		)	(208,409		)
Pension and other postretirement liabilities	(23,780		)	(30,414		)
Other intangible assets	(115,547		)	(81,209		)
Foreign currency translation	—			(22,156		)
Other	(3,961		)	(9,292		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(318,774		)	(351,480		)
Valuation allowance	(14,089		)	(8,147		)
	$	(235,805	)	$	(277,078	)

At December 31, 2017, the net deferred tax liability in our Consolidated Balance Sheets was comprised of long-term deferred tax assets of $26.6 million and long-term deferred tax liabilities of $262.4 million. At December 31, 2016, the net deferred tax liability in our Consolidated Balance Sheets was comprised of long-term deferred tax assets of $21.3 million and long-term deferred tax liabilities of $298.4 million. Long-term deferred tax assets were classified as other assets, net in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The net decrease in deferred tax liabilities is due to decreases of $110.9 million primarily related to the remeasurement of net deferred tax liabilities as a result of the reduction in the federal corporate tax rate under the 2017 Tax Act and $25.3 million due to normal activity, partially offset by an increase of $94.9 million from the acquisition of SDS.

The valuation allowance in 2017 includes deferred tax assets of $14.1 million resulting from foreign net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs. The valuation allowance for deferred tax assets increased in 2017 by $5.9 million primarily due to an increase in the valuation allowance related to foreign tax loss carryforwards and state and local tax credits.

At December 31, 2017, we had foreign NOLs of approximately $29.1 million that are available to offset future taxable income. Of that amount, approximately $8.5 million will expire from 2018 to 2028. The remaining portion has no expiration date. At December 31, 2017, we had state tax NOLs of approximately $4.9 million that are available to offset future taxable income and that will expire from 2024 to 2036.

We recognize accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized taxes as additional income tax expense. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had $4.3 million and $3.8 million, respectively, accrued for potential interest and penalties.

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits recorded in other liabilities as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 were $41.9 million and $36.1 million, respectively, excluding associated tax assets and including the federal tax benefit of state taxes, interest and penalties.

Tax assets associated with uncertain tax positions primarily represent our estimate of the potential tax benefits in one tax jurisdiction that could result from the payment of income taxes in another jurisdiction. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had approximately $16.9 million and $16.7 million, respectively, in assets associated with uncertain tax positions recorded in other assets, net in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits included as other liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets was as follows:



	2017			2016
	(Dollars in thousands)
Balance at January 1,	$	56,721		$	50,337
Increase based upon tax positions of current year	1,183			5,955
(Decrease) increase based upon tax positions of a prior year	(6,839		)	217
Increase due to acquisitions	—			1,810
Decrease due to changes in tax rates	(3,408		)	—
Decrease based upon settlements with taxing authorities	(2,191		)	(1,159		)
Decrease based upon a lapse in the statute of limitations	(320		)	(439		)
Balance at December 31,	$	45,146		$	56,721

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that would impact the effective tax rate, if recognized, at December 31, 2017 and 2016 were $26.6 million and $21.3 million, respectively.

Silgan and its subsidiaries file U.S. Federal income tax returns, as well as income tax returns in various states and foreign jurisdictions. The Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, completed its review of the 2016 tax year with no change to our filed tax return. We have been accepted into the Compliance Assurance Program for the 2017 and 2018 tax years which provides for the review by the IRS of tax matters relating to our tax return prior to filing. We are subject to examination by state and local tax authorities generally for the period mandated by statute, with the exception of states where waivers of the statute of limitations have been executed. The state with the earliest open period is Nebraska (2006). Our foreign subsidiaries are generally not subject to examination by tax authorities for periods before 2008, and we have contractual indemnities with third parties with respect to open periods that predate our ownership of certain foreign subsidiaries. Subsequent periods may be examined by the relevant tax authorities. We do not expect a material change to our unrecognized tax benefits within the next twelve months.

As a result of the 2017 Tax Act, we have changed our assertion of indefinite reinvestment of the earnings of certain of our foreign subsidiaries. In connection with this change, we are provisionally estimating that there is no deferred tax to record for any U.S. income tax and foreign taxes on previously unremitted earnings of such foreign subsidiaries. For our foreign subsidiaries where we expect to be indefinitely reinvested, we estimate that the unremitted earnings as of December 31, 2017 are approximately $46.6 million. The amount of unrecognized deferred tax liabilities on these indefinitely reinvested earnings is estimated to be approximately $1.8 million. In our foreign subsidiaries where we expect to continue to be indefinitely reinvested, additional work is necessary to determine the historical foreign earnings and the associated tax cost of repatriation.

As of December 31, 2017, we reclassified the stranded tax effects resulting from the decrease in the federal corporate tax rate and certain other tax effects (primarily the decreased federal benefit of state income taxes) as a result of the 2017 Tax Act. As a result, we increased each of accumulated other comprehensive loss and retained earnings by $22.1 million. See Note 4 for further information.