Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2024

Income Taxes

(4) Income Taxes

The provisions for income taxes consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Fiscal Years
	2024			2023			2022
Current:
Federal	$	54,621		$	76,827		$	116,642
State		9,750			13,305			23,309
Foreign		999			1,278			1,958
Total current	$	65,370		$	91,410		$	141,909
Deferred:
Federal	$	(5,441	)	$	(8,410	)	$	(3,945	)
State		(1,549	)		701			(1,415	)
Total deferred	$	(6,990	)	$	(7,709	)	$	(5,360	)
Income taxes	$	58,380		$	83,701		$	136,549

Temporary differences and carryforwards which gave rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Dec. 28, 2024		Dec. 30, 2023
Deferred tax assets:
Receivable valuations	$	7,899	$	6,616
Share-based payments		1,139		2,550
Self-insured claims		4,659		3,376
Other		11,411		10,412
Total deferred tax assets	$	25,108	$	22,954
Deferred tax liabilities:
Operating property	$	35,131	$	39,117
Goodwill		4,366		4,107
Other		3,213		3,718
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	42,710	$	46,942
Net deferred tax liability	$	17,602	$	23,988

The following table summarizes the differences between income taxes calculated at the federal income tax rate of 21% on income before income taxes and the provisions for income taxes (in thousands):

	Fiscal Years
	2024			2023			2022
Income taxes at federal income tax rate	$	53,408		$	73,100		$	119,167
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		6,637			11,250			16,596
Non-deductible executive compensation		1,063			2,309			3,552
Meals and entertainment exclusion		508			520			200
Research and development credits		(2,591	)		(1,672	)		(1,526	)
Share-based payments		(1,122	)		(2,832	)		(2,958	)
Other, net		477			1,026			1,518
Income taxes	$	58,380		$	83,701		$	136,549

The Company files a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return. The Company or its subsidiaries file state tax returns in the majority of the U.S. state tax jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company and its subsidiaries are no longer subject to U.S. federal or state income tax examinations by tax authorities for 2020 and prior years. The Company’s wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary, Landstar Canada, Inc., is subject to Canadian income and other taxes. The Company’s wholly-owned Mexican subsidiaries, Landstar Holdings, S. de R.L.C.V. and Landstar Metro, S.A.P.I. de C.V., are subject to Mexican income and other taxes. The Company’s Canadian and Mexican subsidiaries also may each be subject to U.S. income and other taxes.

As of December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, the Company had $5,396,000 and $4,467,000, respectively, of net unrecognized tax benefits representing the provision for the uncertainty of certain tax positions plus a component of interest and penalties. Estimated interest and penalties on the provision for the uncertainty of certain tax positions is included in income tax expense. At December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, there was $1,793,000 and $1,249,000, respectively, accrued for estimated interest and penalties related to the uncertainty of certain tax positions. The Company does not currently anticipate any significant increase or decrease to the unrecognized tax benefit during fiscal year 2025.

The following table summarizes the rollforward of the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits for fiscal years 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

	Fiscal Years
	2024			2023
Gross unrecognized tax benefits – beginning of the year	$	5,454		$	3,726
Gross increases related to current year tax positions		598			953
Gross increases related to prior year tax positions		1,344			1,570
Lapse of statute of limitations		(825	)		(795	)
Gross unrecognized tax benefits – end of the year	$	6,571		$	5,454

Landstar paid income taxes of $47,528,000 in fiscal year 2024, $92,695,000 in fiscal year 2023 and $158,715,000 in fiscal year 2022.