Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The following table presents income tax expense from continuing operations and the effective tax rate:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2013			2012
	(Dollars in thousands)
Income tax expense from continuing operations	$	30,378		$	21,292
Effective tax rate	26		%	24		%

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 is lower than the statutory federal rate of 35% primarily due to tax benefits from foreign income taxed at lower rates, partially offset by state income taxes and non-deductible stock based compensation. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2012 was also reduced due to the release of a $2.7 million valuation allowance which related to investments with differing book and tax bases.

As a result of the reclassification of the Company’s Convertible Debentures to current liabilities, the Company also reclassified the related deferred tax liability to current liabilities as of March 31, 2013. This change resulted in a shift for the U.S. federal and state tax jurisdictions from a net current deferred tax asset position to a net current deferred tax liability position and from a net long-term deferred tax liability position to a net long-term deferred tax asset position as of March 31, 2013.