Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

6. Income Taxes

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2015				2014
Estimated effective income tax rate:
Continuing operations		(15.2	)	%		26.7	%
Discontinued operations		—		%		6.3	%
Consolidated overall		(15.2	)	%		26.7	%

The Corporation’s effective income tax rate reflects the effect of federal and state income taxes and the impact of differences in book and tax accounting arising from the net permanent benefits associated with the statutory depletion deduction for mineral reserves and the domestic production deduction. The effective income tax rates for discontinued operations reflect the tax effects of individual operations’ transactions and are not indicative of the Corporation’s overall effective income tax rate.

The decrease in the effective income tax rate is attributable to discrete events, which include the exercise of converted stock awards issued to former TXI personnel.  Excluding discrete items, the estimated effective income tax rate would have been 31%, in line with annual guidance.  For the year, the Corporation expects to utilize net operating loss, or NOL, carryforwards acquired with TXI.

The Corporation records interest accrued in relation to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. Penalties, if incurred, are recorded as operating expenses in the consolidated statements of earnings and comprehensive earnings.