Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 28, 2018

Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes

Income (loss) before income taxes for fiscal 2018, fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016 are as follows:

	Fiscal 2018			Fiscal 2017			Fiscal 2016
Domestic operations	$	(137,693	)		47,127			6,827
Foreign operations		(2	)		(328	)		(941	)
Total income (loss) before taxes		(137,695	)		46,799			5,886

Income Tax Provisions (Benefits)

Income tax provisions (benefits) for fiscal 2018, fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016 are as follows:

	Fiscal 2018			Fiscal 2017			Fiscal 2016
Current:
Federal	$	19,990			3,722			(47,053	)
State		(1,340	)		(7,480	)		3,908
Foreign		—			—			(273	)
Total current		18,650			(3,758	)		(43,418	)
Deferred:
Federal		(52,831	)		25,724			21,570
State		21,966			2,810			13,018
Foreign		—			—			16
Total deferred		(30,865	)		28,534			34,604
Total	$	(12,215	)		24,776			(8,814	)

Reconciliation Between Effective Income Tax Rate and Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate

Reconciliation between the effective income tax rate and the federal statutory income tax rate is as follows:

	Fiscal 2018			Fiscal 2017			Fiscal 2016
Federal statutory income tax rate		30.3	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		3.0			10.0			8.3
Changes to unrecognized tax benefits		1.8			(5.9	)		(111.3	)
Excess executive compensation		(0.1	)		0.3			8.0
Meals and entertainment disallowance		(0.2	)		0.5			5.1
Tax credits		0.6			—			(76.3	)
Changes in valuation allowance		(26.7	)		(1.2	)		108.6
Changes in deferred taxes and payables		(3.7	)		7.0			(134.8	)
Amounts not deductible for tax		0.1			1.9			—
State law changes		1.5			3.1			4.7
Impact of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act		4.1			—			—
Goodwill impairment		(1.8	)		—			—
Other, net		—			2.2			3.0
Effective income tax rate		8.9	%		52.9	%		(149.7	)%

Components of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

At April 28, 2018 and April 29, 2017, the significant components of the Company’s deferred taxes consisted of the following:

	April 28, 2018			April 29, 2017
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities	$	70,891		$	110,029
Insurance liability		4,830			7,973
Loss and credit carryovers		43,704			31,221
Lease transactions		93			7,131
Pension and post-retirement healthcare		340			581
Stock-based compensation		2,237			3,182
Other		1,542			1,379
Gross deferred tax assets		123,637			161,496
Valuation allowance		(45,861	)		(7,644	)
Net deferred tax assets		77,776			153,852
Deferred tax liabilities:
Prepaid expenses		(2,779	)		(4,670	)
Goodwill and intangible asset amortization		(65,910	)		(140,270	)
Inventory		(1,440	)		(2,608	)
Investment in Barnes & Noble.com		(53,304	)		(78,756	)
Depreciation		(6,387	)		(13,680	)
Gross deferred tax liabilities		(129,820	)		(239,984	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(52,044	)	$	(86,132	)

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Amount of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for fiscal 2018, fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2016 is as follows:

Balance at May 2, 2015	$	18,382
Additions for tax positions of the current period		238
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		7,433
Reductions due to settlements		(5,980	)
Reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(5,501	)
Balance at April 30, 2016	$	14,572
Additions for tax positions of the current period		337
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		1,644
Reductions due to settlements		—
Reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(7,134	)
Balance at April 29, 2017	$	9,419
Additions for tax positions of the current period		—
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		—
Reductions due to settlements		(22	)
Reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(2,548	)
Balance at April 28, 2018	$	6,849