Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

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



(in thousands)
	2017		2016			2015
Current income tax expense	$	81,689	$	109,727		$	106,155
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	26,912		(2		)	(14,584		)
Other income tax expense ⁽¹⁾	10,095		—			—
Income tax expense	$	118,696	$	109,725		$	91,571


(1)	The income tax expense for 2017 was impacted by the re-measurement of our deferred tax assets and liabilities due to the enactment of the TCJA on December 22, 2017, which reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018.

Schedule of reconciliation of the provision for income taxes, with amounts determined by applying the statutory federal income tax rate to pre-tax income

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)
	2017			2016			2015
Income tax at statutory rate	$	110,493		$	112,032		$	93,187
Change in tax rate	10,095			—			—
Tax-exempt interest	(2,278		)	(2,270		)	(2,285		)
Other, net	386			(37		)	669
Income tax expense	$	118,696		$	109,725		$	91,571

Schedule of temporary differences and carry-forwards, which give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities

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)
	2017 ⁽¹⁾		2016 ⁽¹⁾
Deferred tax assets:
Other employee benefits	$	14,092	$	19,106
Pension and other postretirement benefits ⁽²⁾	22,758		65,241
Allowance for management fee returned on cancelled policies	3,024		4,795
Other	812		81
Total deferred tax assets	40,686		89,223
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation	10,204		18,493
Prepaid expenses	5,568		8,120
Limited partnerships	4,509		5,597
Unrealized gains on investments	856		1,657
Other	159		1,467
Total deferred tax liabilities	21,296		35,334
Net deferred tax asset	$	19,390	$	53,889


(1)	Deferred tax balances were tax effected at 21% in 2017, the corporate tax rate effective January 1, 2018, as a result of the enactment of the TCJA on December 22, 2017. For 2016, balances were tax effected at the then effective tax rate of 35%.


(2)	Decrease in tax assets of pension and other postretirement benefits are primarily due to the $39.9 million of unplanned additional contributions in 2017, as well as accelerated contributions in 2018. We contributed $40 million in January 2018 and plan to contribute an additional $40 million in April 2018.