INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Components of income (loss) before income taxes

The components of income before income taxes are as follows (in thousands):



	Year ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
United States	$	54,338		$	60,485		$	57,258
Foreign	(21,279		)	(1,158		)	(18,250		)
Income before income tax	$	33,059		$	59,327		$	39,008

Components of income tax benefit

The components of the income tax benefit (expense) are as follows (in thousands):



	Year ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
Current income tax benefit (expense):
Federal	$	(1,018	)	$	—		$	226
State	(2		)	(2		)	—
Foreign	(10,224		)	(8,363		)	(6,600		)
	(11,244		)	(8,365		)	(6,374		)
Deferred income tax (expense) benefit:
Federal	(7,145		)	(9,652		)	(16,811		)
State	51			575			(1,192		)
Foreign	(43		)	(31		)	69
	(7,137		)	(9,108		)	(17,934		)
Adjustments to the beginning-of-year valuation allowance	—			—			59,352
Income tax benefit (expense)	$	(18,381	)	$	(17,473	)	$	35,044

Reconciliation of the statutory U.S. federal tax rate to the effective tax rate

Reconciliation of the statutory U.S. federal tax rate to the Company's effective tax rate is as follows:



	Year ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	(0.1	)%	(0.4	)%	(1.3	)%
State apportionment change	—	%	—	%	0.3	%
U.S. federal rate change	—	%	—	%	(3.6	)%
Effect of foreign operations	15.2	%	0.7	%	10.9	%
Subpart F income	—	%	(4.5	)%	15.6	%
Nondeductible employee compensation	2.5	%	0.5	%	2.3	%
Research tax credits	(4.4	)%	(2.5	)%	(3.4	)%
Change in valuation allowance	8.4	%	(0.4	)%	(146.4	)%
Other	(1.0	)%	1.0	%	0.8	%
Effective tax rate	55.6	%	29.4	%	(89.8	)%

Tax loss and tax credit carryforwards

The following table summarizes Company tax loss and tax credit carry forwards for tax return purposes at December 31, 2015 (in thousands):



	Related Tax Deduction		Tax Benefit		Expiration Date
Loss carry forwards:
Federal net operating loss	$	—	$	—
Foreign net operating loss	29,729		3,716		n/a
Total loss carry forwards	$	29,729	$	3,716
Tax credit carry forwards:
Research tax credits	n/a		$	11,061	2020 to 2035
Foreign tax credits	n/a		24,913		2020 to 2025
State research tax credits	n/a		2,299		2022 to 2030
Total credit carry forwards	n/a		$	38,273

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This tables includes $84.9 million (tax benefit of $30.3 million) related to excess tax benefits which are not included in deferred tax assets on the consolidated balance sheet and are not recognized until the deduction reduces taxes payable (see below).

Significant components of deferred tax assets

Significant components of the Company's net deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2015			2014
Deferred tax asset:
Net operating loss carry forwards	$	3,716		$	2,425
Capitalized technology license	3,922			2,146
Capitalized research expenditures	10,206			12,227
Accruals and reserves	6,675			3,021
Retirement plan	8,062			3,761
Deferred revenue	731			541
Tax credit carry forwards	7,973			19,395
Stock-based compensation	2,012			2,060
Other	1,857			1,589
	45,154			47,165
Valuation allowance	(14,483		)	(12,372		)
Deferred tax assets	30,671			34,793

Deferred tax liability:
Subpart F income	(3,400		)	(3,400		)
Deferred tax liabilities	(3,400		)	(3,400		)

Net deferred tax assets	$	27,271		$	31,393