Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Components of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes

The components of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes and the provision for income taxes from continuing operations were as follows:



	Years ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
	(In thousands)
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes:
United States	$	344,614	408,757		275,630
Foreign	61,767		60,458		62,637
Total	$	406,381	469,215		338,267
Current tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations:
Federal ⁽¹⁾	$	2,731	(1,836	)	(230	)
State ⁽¹⁾	7,713		5,748		6,396
Foreign	6,411		5,272		7,163
	16,855		9,184		13,329
Deferred tax expense from continuing operations:
Federal	106,513		135,585		90,056
State	16,259		20,111		12,429
Foreign	2,114		(1,654	)	2,228
	124,886		154,042		104,713
Provision for income taxes from continuing operations	$	141,741	163,226		118,042

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(1)	Excludes federal and state tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock awards, which were credited directly to “Additional paid-in capital” for years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Reconciliation of federal statutory tax rate with effective tax rate from continuing operations

A reconciliation of the federal statutory tax rate with the effective tax rate from continuing operations follows:



	Years ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
	(Percentage of pre-tax earnings)
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0		35.0		35.0
Impact on deferred taxes for changes in tax rates	(0.7	)	(0.9	)	(0.9	)
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	5.0		5.0		5.2
Foreign rates varying from federal statutory tax rate	(3.3	)	(3.3	)	(3.7	)
Tax reviews and audits	(0.7	)	(1.3	)	(1.1	)
Other, net	(0.4	)	0.3		0.4
Effective tax rate	34.9		34.8		34.9

Summary of the increases (decreases) to net earnings from continuing operations from changes in tax laws

The following provides a summary of the increases to net earnings from continuing operations from changes in tax laws by tax jurisdiction:



Tax Jurisdiction	Enactment Date	Net Earnings
		(in thousands)
2016
North Carolina	August 4, 2016	$585

2015
Connecticut	June 30, 2015	$1,616
Other Jurisdictions	April 13, 2015 - November 18, 2015	$497

2014
New York	March 31, 2014	$1,776
Rhode Island	June 19, 2014	$626

Components of net deferred income tax liability

The components of the net deferred income tax liability were as follows:



	December 31,
	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Self-insurance accruals	$	107,252		93,352
Net operating loss carryforwards	396,313			429,458
Alternative minimum taxes	13,901			10,727
Accrued compensation and benefits	81,454			76,363
Federal benefit on state tax positions	19,247			18,912
Pension benefits	162,141			148,671
Miscellaneous other accruals	28,313			32,763
	808,621			810,246
Valuation allowance	(16,387		)	(14,991	)
	792,234			795,255
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment basis difference	(2,451,151		)	(2,362,194	)
Other	(20,735		)	(20,583	)
	(2,471,886		)	(2,382,777	)
Net deferred income tax liability ⁽¹⁾	$	(1,679,652	)	(1,587,522	)

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(1)	Deferred tax assets of $9 million have been included in "Direct financing leases and other assets" at December 31, 2016.

Summary of activity related to unrecognized tax benefits

The following table summarizes the activity related to unrecognized tax benefits (excluding the federal benefit received from state positions):



	December 31,
	2016			2015		2014
	(In thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	60,740		60,482		56,813
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	3,855			4,220		6,896
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statutes of limitation	(2,946		)	(3,962	)	(3,227	)
Gross balance at December 31	61,649			60,740		60,482
Interest and penalties	5,219			4,912		5,125
Balance at December 31	$	66,868		65,652		65,607