Income Taxes

The components of the provision for income taxes are as follows:



	Year Ended
(In thousands)	August 29, 2015		August 30, 2014			August 31, 2013
Current
Federal	$	15,406	$	17,923		$	10,958
State	1,124		(170		)	(680		)
Total current tax provision	16,530		17,753			10,278
Deferred
Federal	1,486		1,415			1,666
State	308		456			1,197
Total deferred tax provision	1,794		1,871			2,863
Total tax provision	$	18,324	$	19,624		$	13,141

Current Tax Provision

The amount of current federal tax provision noted in the table above for Fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013 represents primarily the estimated federal tax payable for those fiscal years in addition to the tax effect of tax planning initiatives recorded during the year.

The state provision recorded in Fiscal 2015 primarily represents the estimated state tax payable plus the tax effect of tax planning initiatives recorded during the year. The state benefit recorded for 2014 and 2013 is primarily a result of tax planning initiatives recorded during those years.

Deferred Tax Provision

The deferred federal and state expense recorded during Fiscal 2015, Fiscal 2014 and Fiscal 2013 is primarily a result of the utilization of deferred tax assets during the year.

The following is a reconciliation of the US statutory income tax rate to our effective tax rate:



	Year Ended
(A percentage)	August 29, 2015		August 30, 2014		August 31, 2013
US federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of federal benefit	2.4	%	2.3	%	2.1	%
Tax-free and dividend income	(1.3	)%	(1.5	)%	(2.2	)%
Income tax credits	(0.3	)%	(0.4	)%	(1.7	)%
Domestic production activities deduction	(3.7	)%	(2.8	)%	(2.4	)%
Other permanent items	(0.8	)%	(0.9	)%	(0.8	)%
Valuation allowance	—	%	(0.4	)%	0.2	%
Uncertain tax positions settlements and adjustments	(0.5	)%	(1.0	)%	(1.1	)%
Effective tax provision rate	30.8	%	30.3	%	29.1	%

Significant items comprising our net deferred tax assets are as follows:



(In thousands)	August 29, 2015				August 30, 2014
Current deferred income tax asset (liability)
Warranty reserves	$	4,288			$	3,620
Self-insurance reserve	2,378				1,882
Accrued vacation	1,938				1,805
Inventory	(2,383		)		(1,682		)
Deferred compensation	1,175				1,199
Other	2,599				2,817
Total net current deferred income tax asset	9,995				9,641
Noncurrent deferred income tax asset (liability)
Postretirement health care benefits	12,792				13,634
Deferred compensation	9,582				9,565
Tax credits and NOL carryforwards	140			(1)	261
Unrecognized tax benefit	726				895
Depreciation	(1,338		)		(992		)
Other	92				666
Total net noncurrent deferred income tax asset	21,994				24,029
Total deferred income tax assets	$	31,989			$	33,670


⁽¹⁾	At August 29, 2015, NOL carryforwards included $140,000 of state NOLs that will begin to expire in Fiscal 2021. We have evaluated all the positive and negative evidence and consider it more likely than not that these carryforwards can be realized.

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

Changes in the unrecognized tax benefits are as follows:



(In thousands)	Fiscal 2015			Fiscal 2014			Fiscal 2013
Unrecognized tax benefits - beginning balance	$	(1,709	)	$	(2,134	)	$	(5,228	)
Gross decreases - tax positions in a prior period	568			816			3,101			⁽¹⁾
Gross increases - current period tax positions	(448		)	(391		)	(7		)
Unrecognized tax benefits - ending balance	(1,589		)	(1,709		)	(2,134		)
Accrued interest and penalties	(922		)	(1,315		)	(1,854		)
Total unrecognized tax benefits	$	(2,511	)	$	(3,024	)	$	(3,988	)


(1)	Approximately $1.3 million of the gross decreases for Fiscal 2013 includes the removal of the interest and penalties from the overall disclosed reserve balance of unrecognized tax benefits. The remaining reductions are as a result of changes in balance of positions that meet the more-likely-than-not threshold.

We do not believe within the next twelve months there will be a significant change in the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of August 29, 2015.

If the remaining uncertain positions are ultimately favorably resolved, $1.9 million of unrecognized benefits could have a positive impact on our effective tax rate. It is our policy to recognize interest and penalties accrued relative to unrecognized tax benefits into tax expense.

We file tax returns in the US federal jurisdiction, as well as various international and state jurisdictions. Although certain years are no longer subject to examinations by the IRS and various state taxing authorities, NOL carryforwards generated in those years may still be adjusted upon examination by the IRS or state taxing authorities if they either have been or will be used in a future period. As of August 29, 2015, our federal returns from Fiscal 2012 to present continue to be subject to review by the IRS. As of August 29, 2015, our Fiscal 2014 Federal return is being reviewed. With few exceptions, the state returns from Fiscal 2009 to present continue to be subject to review by the taxing jurisdictions. At this time we do have one state jurisdiction that is currently reviewing our Fiscal 2012 and Fiscal 2013 returns. A number of years may elapse before an uncertain tax position is audited and finally resolved, and it is often very difficult to predict the outcome of such audits. Periodically, various state and local jurisdictions conduct audits, therefore, a variety of years are subject to state and local jurisdiction review.