Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Taxes

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

	2017		2016		2015
Current income tax expense	$	269,387	$	153,176	$	6,391
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)		(139,948)		50,951		(103,338)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	129,439	$	204,127	$	(96,947)

A reconciliation of the statutory rates to the actual effective tax rates for the years ended December 31 are as follows:

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the statutory rates to the actual effective tax rates for the years ended December 31 are as follows:

	2017			2016			2015
Statutory federal tax rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
Impact from Tax Reform		(19.3)			-			-
State income taxes, net of federal benefit		1.4			2.6			6.3
Domestic manufacturing deduction		(2.6)			(2.5)			-
Noncontrolling interests		0.3			1.4			(2.1)
Tax benefit of equity compensation		(1.1)			(1.0)			0.4
Other permanent differences		0.1			0.7			0.4
Effective tax rate		13.8	%		36.2	%		40.0	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Significant components of the company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31 are as follows (in thousands):

	2017		2016
Deferred tax assets
Accrued expenses and allowances	$	16,322	$	24,986
Inventories		4,109		11,805
Net operating loss carryforwards		33,693		48,920
Intangible assets		-		14,779
Other		8,074		8,491
		62,198		108,981
Less: valuation allowance		(20,714)		(33,427)
Total net deferred tax assets		41,484		75,554
Deferred tax liabilities
Property, plant and equipment		(344,511)		(519,977)
Intangible assets		(1,292)		-
Other		(1,630)		(3,952)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(347,433)		(523,929)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(305,949)	$	(448,375)

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):

	2017		2016		2015
Balance at January 1	$	19,107	$	15,991	$	17,338
Increases related to current year tax positions		300		300		-
Increases related to prior year tax positions		271		5,452		81
Decreases related to prior year tax positions		(863)		(535)		(719)
Settlements with taxing authorities		(2,066)		(2,101)		(70)
Lapses in statute of limitations		-		-		(639)
Balance at December 31	$	16,749	$	19,107	$	15,991