Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Abstract]

Schedule of income before income tax

Income before taxes consisted of the following:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
	(In thousands)
Domestic	$	(12,535	)	$	(61,036	)	$	(3,586	)
Foreign	518			(56,849		)	(22,215		)
	$	(12,017	)	$	(117,885	)	$	(25,801	)

Components of provision for (benefit from) income taxes

The provision for income taxes is comprised of:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
	(In thousands)
Federal:
Current	$	19,319		$	15,048		$	16,595
Deferred	2,200			587			(255		)
State:
Current	47			(2,868		)	17
Deferred	(501		)	2,934			—
Foreign:
Current	446			543			886
Deferred	220			207			9
	$	21,731		$	16,451		$	17,252

Schedule of effective income tax rate reconciliation

The differences between Rambus’ effective tax rate and the U.S. federal statutory regular tax rate are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2013		2012		2011
Expense (benefit) at U.S. federal statutory rate	(35.0	)%	(35.0	)%	(35.0	)%
Expense (benefit) at state statutory rate	(3.3	)	0.1		(0.1	)
Withholding tax	160.4		13.3		64.2
Foreign rate differential	4.1		17.4		33.0
Research and development (“R&D”) credit	(36.7	)	—		(1.0	)
Executive compensation	0.8		0.3		2.0
Non-deductible stock-based compensation	2.5		0.7		2.8
Foreign tax credit	(163.3	)	(13.3	)	(197.7	)
Capitalized merger and acquisition costs	—		0.3		5.9
Other	(1.0	)	(2.2	)	0.5
Valuation allowance	252.3		32.4		192.3
	180.8	%	14.0	%	66.9	%

Components of the net deferred tax assets

The components of the net deferred tax assets are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2013			2012
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Depreciation and amortization	$	28,093		$	20,230
Other liabilities and reserves	18,578			19,624
Deferred equity compensation	33,837			42,546
Net operating loss carryovers	27,416			38,133
Tax credits	100,052			76,826
Total gross deferred tax assets	207,976			197,359
Convertible debt	(12,664)			(8,019)
Total net deferred tax assets	195,312			189,340
Valuation allowance	(192,823		)	(184,817		)
Net deferred tax assets	$	2,489		$	4,523

	As of December 31,
	2013			2012
	(In thousands)
Reported as:
Current deferred tax assets	$	205		$	788
Current deferred tax liabilities	(791		)	—
Non-current deferred tax assets	4,797			4,458
Non-current deferred tax liabilities	(1,722		)	(723		)
Net deferred tax assets	$	2,489		$	4,523

Summary of valuation allowance

The following table presents the tax valuation allowance information for the years ended December 31, 2013, December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011:

	Balance at Beginning of Period		Charged (Credited) to Operations	Charged to Other Account*	Utilized	Balance at End of Period
Tax Valuation Allowance
Year ended December 31, 2011	$	66,395	—	64,153	—	$	130,548
Year ended December 31, 2012	$	130,548	—	54,269	—	$	184,817
Year ended December 31, 2013	$	184,817	—	8,006	—	$	192,823

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* Amounts not charged to operations are charged to other comprehensive income or deferred tax assets (liabilities).

Schedule of reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized income tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 is as follows (amounts in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
Balance at January 1	$	16,773		$	16,610		$	11,816
Tax positions related to current year:
Additions	1,156			589			608
Tax positions related to prior years:
Additions	956			1,521			4,911
Reductions	(91		)	(1,947		)	(725		)
Settlements	—			—			—
Balance at December 31	$	18,794		$	16,773		$	16,610