Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

(9) Income Taxes

The following table summarizes the differences between our effective tax rate for financial statement purposes and the Federal statutory rate.

	Three months ended March 31,
	2015			2014

Statutory tax rate		35.0	%		35.0	%

Federal tax at statutory rate	$	52,790		$	54,240
Nontaxable municipal bond interest and dividend received deduction		(9,752)			(8,927)
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit		717			834
Foreign income taxes		9,951			7,226
Foreign tax credit		(9,776)			(7,226)
Indefinitely reinvested earnings of foreign subsidiaries		(9,134)			-
Uncertain tax positions (net of federal tax benefit on state
positions: $93 in 2015 and $144 in 2014)		2,234			320
Other, net		881			594
Income tax expense	$	37,911		$	47,061
Effective tax rate		25.1	%		30.4	%

In the first quarter of 2015, we made an initial assertion that we would indefinitely reinvest the cumulative undistributed earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries primarily organized in the United Kingdom and Spain, which have statutory tax rates of 20.0% and 28.0%, respectively. We made no similar assertion in the first quarter of 2014 or in any periods previously reported. Our 2015 assertion generated a tax benefit of $9.1 million, which included $5.9 million on cumulative undistributed foreign earnings through December 31, 2014 and $3.2 million on undistributed foreign earnings recorded in the first quarter of 2015. Our assertion excluded undistributed foreign earnings that previously have been taxed as deemed dividend inclusions under U.S. tax rules, as well as 2015 earnings for which an assertion cannot be made unless certain U.S. tax regulations are extended for 2015 and future years. At March 31, 2015, our foreign earnings considered to be indefinitely reinvested outside the United States totaled $321.2 million, all of which are subject to U.S. taxes, offset by an adjustment for foreign tax credits, if repatriated. In cases where we could not assert or do not intend to assert indefinite reinvestment of the undistributed earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries, we provided taxes on such undistributed earnings at the U.S. statutory rate of 35.0%, offset by an adjustment for foreign tax credits, where applicable.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information.

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