Note 10. Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of the following for the years ended December 31:



(in thousands)
	2015			2014			2013
Current income tax expense	$	106,155		$	87,064		$	89,005
Deferred income tax benefit	(14,584		)	(3,305		)	(5,002		)
Income tax expense	$	91,571		$	83,759		$	84,003

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes, with amounts determined by applying the statutory federal income tax rate to pre-tax income, is as follows for the years ended December 31:



(in thousands)
	2015			2014			2013
Income tax at statutory rate	$	93,187		$	87,943		$	86,315
Tax-exempt interest	(2,285		)	(2,589		)	(2,345		)
Other, net	669			(1,595		)	33
Income tax expense	$	91,571		$	83,759		$	84,003

Temporary differences and carry-forwards, which give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities, are as follows for the years ended December 31:



(in thousands)
	2015		2014
Deferred tax assets:
Other employee benefits	$	19,945	$	17,846
Pension and other postretirement benefits	48,897		55,443
Allowance for management fee returned on cancelled policies	4,375		3,850
Other	546		44
Total deferred tax assets	73,763		77,183
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation	17,843		17,290
Prepaid expenses	6,929		8,090
Limited partnerships	5,822		10,526
Unrealized gains on investments	1,360		3,691
Other	1,123		265
Total deferred tax liabilities	33,077		39,862
Net deferred tax asset	$	40,686	$	37,321

We had no valuation allowance recorded at December 31, 2015 or December 31, 2014. The IRS has examined our tax filings through tax year ended 2009 and is currently examining our federal income tax returns for 2010, 2011 and 2012.

We are the attorney-in-fact for the subscribers (policyholders) at the Exchange, a reciprocal insurance exchange. In that capacity, we provide all services and facilities necessary to conduct the Exchange’s insurance business. Indemnity and the Exchange together constitute a single insurance business. Consequently, we are not subject to state corporate income or franchise taxes in states where the Exchange conducts its business and the states collect premium tax in lieu of corporate income or franchise tax, as a result of the Exchange’s remittance of premium taxes in those states.