Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Net deferred tax assets and liabilities

Net deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

Deferred tax assets and liabilities
Table	12.1
(In thousands)		2019			2018
Total deferred tax assets		$	63,533		$	83,082
Total deferred tax liabilities		(57,791		)	(13,898		)
Net deferred tax asset		$	5,742		$	69,184

Components of the net deferred tax asset (liability)

Table 12.2 includes the components of the net deferred tax asset as of December 31, 2019 and 2018.

Deferred tax components
Table	12.2
(In thousands)		2019			2018
Unearned premium reserves		$	30,487		$	31,808
Benefit plans		(10,790		)	(5,047		)
Loss reserves		2,175			3,113
Unrealized (appreciation) depreciation in investments		(36,822		)	9,407
Mortgage investments		8,359			8,307
Deferred compensation		9,270			8,662
AMT credit carryforward		8,303			17,521
Other, net		(5,240		)	(4,587		)
Net deferred tax asset		$	5,742		$	69,184

Components of the provision for (benefit from) income taxes

Table 12.3 summarizes the components of the provision for (benefit from) income taxes:

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes
Table	12.3
(In thousands)		2019			2018			2017
Current Federal		$	162,911		$	(16,272	)	$	73,348
Deferred Federal		11,860			185,598			351,677
Other		(557		)	4,727			3,710
Provision for income taxes		$	174,214		$	174,053		$	428,735

Reconciliation of federal statutory income tax rate

Table 12.6 reconciles the federal statutory income tax rate to our effective tax provision rate.

Effective tax rate reconciliation
Table	12.6
		2019		2018		2017
Federal statutory income tax rate		21.0	%	21.0	%	35.0	%
Additional income tax provision (benefit) related to the rate decrease included in the Tax Act		—	%	—	%	17.0	%
Additional income tax provision (benefit) related to IRS litigation		—	%	(0.3	)%	3.7	%
Tax exempt municipal bond interest		(0.6	)%	(0.7	)%	(1.4	)%
Other, net		0.1	%	0.6	%	0.4	%
Effective tax rate		20.5	%	20.6	%	54.7	%

Reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is shown in table 12.7.

Unrecognized tax benefits reconciliation
Table	12.7
(In thousands)		2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year		$	142,821		$	108,245
Additions for tax positions of prior years		—			35,003
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		(3,070		)	(427		)
Settlements		(139,751		)	—
Balance at end of year		$	—		$	142,821