Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Components of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes

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



	Years ended December 31,
	2017			2016	2015
	(In thousands)
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes:
United States	$	254,327		344,614	408,757
Foreign	59,459			61,767	60,458
Total	$	313,786		406,381	469,215
Current tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations:
Federal ⁽¹⁾	$	6,752		2,731	(1,836	)
State ⁽¹⁾	9,360			7,713	5,748
Foreign	6,442			6,411	5,272
	22,554			16,855	9,184
Deferred tax (benefit) expense from continuing operations:
Federal	(509,573		)	106,513	135,585
State	7,985			16,259	20,111
Foreign	1,805			2,114	(1,654	)
	(499,783		)	124,886	154,042
(Benefit from) provision for income taxes from continuing operations	$	(477,229	)	141,741	163,226

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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 the year ended December 31, 2015.

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,
	2017		2016		2015
	(Percentage of pre-tax earnings)
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0		35.0		35.0
Impact of one-time deemed repatriation	10.7		—		—
Impact on deferred taxes for changes in tax rates	(197.5	)	(0.7	)	(0.9	)
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	4.5		5.0		5.0
Foreign rates varying from federal statutory tax rate	(4.0	)	(3.3	)	(3.3	)
Tax reviews and audits	(1.0	)	(0.7	)	(1.3	)
Other, net	0.2		(0.4	)	0.3
Effective tax rate	(152.1	)	34.9		34.8

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)
2017
United States	December 22, 2017	$585,912
Illinois	July 1, 2017	$(1,844)

2016
North Carolina	August 4, 2016	$585

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

Components of net deferred income tax liability

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



	December 31,
	2017			2016
	(In thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Self-insurance accruals	$	75,198		107,252
Net operating loss carryforwards	171,053			396,313
Alternative minimum taxes	22,552			13,901
Accrued compensation and benefits	65,532			81,454
Federal benefit on state tax positions	11,950			19,247
Pension benefits	82,547			162,141
Miscellaneous other accruals	19,608			28,313
	448,440			808,621
Valuation allowance	(18,667		)	(16,387	)
	429,773			792,234
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment basis difference	(1,614,963		)	(2,451,151	)
Other	(16,857		)	(20,735	)
	(1,631,820		)	(2,471,886	)
Net deferred income tax liability ⁽¹⁾	$	(1,202,047	)	(1,679,652	)

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(1)	Deferred tax assets of $7 million and $9 million have been included in "Direct financing leases and other assets" at December 31, 2017 and 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,
	2017			2016		2015
	(In thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	61,649		60,740		60,482
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	3,971			3,855		4,220
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statutes of limitation	(3,332		)	(2,946	)	(3,962	)
Gross balance at December 31	62,288			61,649		60,740
Interest and penalties	5,860			5,219		4,912
Balance at December 31	$	68,148		66,868		65,652