7.	Income Taxes

	September 30,
	2015			2014
Estimated effective income tax rate:
Continuing operations		29.4	%		39.7	%
Consolidated overall		29.4	%		39.7	%

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 prior year rate reflects the impact of acquisition-related expenses, net, which includes the gain on the required divestiture.

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.

As of September 30, 2015, the Corporation recorded a $3,176,000 valuation reserve for certain state net operating loss carryforwards, which was driven by the sale of the California cement operations.