Income Taxes Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Table Text Block]

The provision for income tax consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Current:
Federal	$	20,759		$	3,673		$	22,806
State	(289		)	412			3,435
Foreign	11,639			11,443			1,890
Total current	32,109			15,528			28,131
Deferred:
Federal	2,427			6,761			1,095
State	314			2,012			(276		)
Foreign	(1,591		)	(1,951		)	(1,360		)
Total deferred	1,150			6,822			(541		)
Total provision	$	33,259		$	22,350		$	27,590

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation [Table Text Block]

A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate with j2 Global's effective income tax rate is as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2012		2011			2010
Statutory tax rate	35	%		35	%		35	%
State income taxes, net	0.5			0.9			1.9
Foreign rate differential	(17.4	)		(16	)		(17.7	)
Reserve for uncertain tax positions	4.9			(5.7	)		5.9
Valuation Allowance	3.2			(0.1	)		(1.4	)
IRC Section 199 deductions	(3.4	)		—			—
Other	(1.3	)		2.2			1.2
Effective tax rates	21.5	%		16.3	%		24.9	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities [Table Text Block]

Deferred tax assets and liabilities result from differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and the tax bases of existing assets and liabilities. Temporary differences and carryforwards which give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2012		2011
Deferred tax assets:
Net operating loss carryforwards	2,890		3,480
Tax credit carryforwards	7,600		1,461
Accrued expenses	821		977
Allowance for bad debt	1,028		690
Share-based compensation expense	5,990		5,818
Impairment of investments	355		460
Gain on sale of intangible assets	137		137
Deferred revenue	270		587
State taxes	1,534		—
Other	—		—
	20,625		13,610
Less:  Valuation Allowance	(5,918	)	(515	)
Total deferred tax assets	14,707		13,095
Deferred tax liabilities:
State taxes	—		(248	)
Basis difference in fixed assets	(84	)	(2,361	)
Basis difference in intangible assets	(38,864	)	(17,074	)
Prepaid insurance	(224	)	(284	)
Other	(5,018	)	(442	)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(44,190	)	(20,409	)
Net deferred tax assets	(29,483	)	(7,314	)

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies [Table Text Block]

A reconciliation of the Company's unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, is as follows (in thousands):

Balance at January 1, 2012	$	28,366
Decreases related to positions taken during a prior period	(557		)
Increases related to positions taken in the current period	7,612
Balance at December 31, 2012	$	35,421