Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Components of income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes and noncontrolling interest

Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes and noncontrolling interests consists of the following components:

	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Domestic	$	(50,106	)	$	(26,065	)	$	(15,995	)
Foreign		217,249			202,470			186,032
	$	167,143		$	176,405		$	170,037

Components of income taxes

Significant components of income taxes are as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	(27,031	)	$	(603	)	$	8,409
State and local		386			280			574
Foreign		60,282			51,225			44,351
		33,637			50,902			53,334
Deferred:
Federal		7,999			2,215			(8,557	)
State and local		204			92			(240	)
Foreign		7,460			(573	)		1,969
		15,663			1,734			(6,828	)
Total income tax expense	$	49,300		$	52,636		$	46,506

Deferred tax assets and liabilities

Note 5 – Income Taxes (continued)

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

	December 31,
	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Pension and other retiree obligations	$	43,393		$	34,343
Inventories		8,013			8,759
Net operating loss carryforwards		198,677			182,691
Tax credit carryforwards		25,046			20,780
Other accruals and reserves		32,376			31,469
Total gross deferred tax assets		307,505			278,042
Less valuation allowance		(186,614	)		(183,289	)
		120,891			94,753
Deferred tax liabilities:
Tax over book depreciation		(10,257	)		(10,652	)
Intangible assets other than goodwill		(20,507	)		(1,539	)
Earnings not permanently reinvested		(25,334	)		(1,652	)
Convertible debentures		(175,935	)		(162,371	)
Other - net		(3,590	)		(2,741	)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities		(235,623	)		(178,955	)
Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	(114,732	)	$	(84,202	)

Federal statutory income tax rate reconciliation

A reconciliation of income tax expense at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to actual income tax provision is as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Tax at statutory rate	$	58,500		$	61,742		$	59,513
State income taxes, net of U.S. federal tax benefit		384			242			217
Effect of foreign operations		(27,372	)		(18,696	)		(19,083	)
Tax on earnings not permanently reinvested		25,728			-			-
Unrecognized tax benefits		(21,603	)		2,862			6,626
Change in valuation allowance on non-U.S. deferred tax assets		-			(285	)		(4,036	)
Foreign income taxable in the U.S.		13,499			11,961			7,476
U.S. foreign tax credits		-			-			(4,257	)
Effect of statutory rate changes on deferred tax assets		226			(2,867	)		-
Other		(62	)		(2,323	)		50
Total income tax expense	$	49,300		$	52,636		$	46,506

Net operating loss carryforwards

At December 31, 2014, the Company had the following significant net operating loss carryforwards for tax purposes:

			Expires
Austria	$	14,515	No expiration
Belgium		173,541	No expiration
Brazil		14,876	No expiration
Germany		42,968	No expiration
Israel		62,528	No expiration
Netherlands		23,411		2015 - 2023
United States		78,784		2033 - 2034
California		53,979		2016 - 2034
Pennsylvania		736,159		2018 - 2034

Summary of significant tax credit carryforwards available

At December 31, 2014, the Company had the following significant tax credit carryforwards available:

			Expires
U.S. Foreign Tax Credit	$	11,093		2020 - 2022
California Research Credit		10,926	No expiration

Unrecognized tax benefits

The following table summarizes changes in the liabilities associated with unrecognized tax benefits:

	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of year	$	45,877		$	51,771		$	48,152
Addition based on tax positions related to the current year		1,641			-			665
Addition based on tax positions related to prior years		6,484			4,015			3,498
Currency translation adjustments		(1,387	)		310			(215	)
Reduction based on tax positions related to prior years		-			(2,054	)		-
Reduction for settlements		(3,556	)		(7,316	)		(329	)
Reduction for lapses of statute of limitation		(22,476	)		(849	)		-
Balance at end of year	$	26,583		$	45,877		$	51,771