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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
On December 21, 2020, the President of the United States signed into law the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” which included COVID-19 economic relief and extensions of certain expiring tax provisions. Additional pandemic relief tax measures included an expansion of the employee retention credit, enhanced charitable contribution deductions and a temporary full deduction for business expenses for food and beverages provided by a restaurant. These benefits did not have a material impact on the respective tax provision.
In 2021, as part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's ("OECD") Inclusive Framework, 140 member countries agreed to the implementation of the Pillar Two Global Minimum Tax ("Pillar Two") of 15%. The OECD continues to release additional guidance, including administrative guidance on how Pillar Two rules should be interpreted and applied by jurisdictions as they adopt Pillar Two. A number of countries have utilized the administrative guidance as a starting point for legislation that is effective January 1, 2024. The Company is continuing to evaluate the potential impact on future periods of Pillar Two, pending legislative adoption by individual countries.
Income (loss) before income taxes was attributable to the following sources:
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
United States$99,116 $90,379 $89,086 
Canada(1,879)(5,180)361 
Total$97,237 $85,199 $89,447 
The provision for income taxes follows:
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Current provision (benefit):   
Federal$17,708 $18,795 $18,101 
State6,275 7,173 7,221 
Canadian(62)11 78 
Total current23,921 25,979 25,400 
Deferred taxes1,175 (2,070)(1,652)
Total taxes on income$25,096 $23,909 $23,748 
A reconciliation of the expected statutory U.S. federal rate to our actual effective income tax rate follows:
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Statutory U.S. federal tax rate21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
State income taxes, net of federal benefit5.4 6.1 5.5 
Effect of Canadian income taxes— (.2).1 
Nondeductible expenses.7 1.9 1.5 
Stock compensation(.8)(.8)(.9)
ESOP dividend deduction(.2)(.2)(.1)
Uncertain tax adjustments and audit settlement.1 — (.5)
Valuation allowance(.3)— — 
Other, net(.1).4 — 
Effective income tax rate25.8 %28.2 %26.6 %
Deferred income taxes reflect the tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more-likely-than-not that an income tax benefit will not be realized.
Significant components of our noncurrent net deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31, were as follows:
 December 31,
 20232022
Deferred tax assets:  
Self-insurance accruals$28,198 $28,183 
Accrued compensated absences2,451 1,931 
Accrued expenses and other liabilities880 808 
Accrued stock compensation4,093 3,298 
Foreign tax credit carryforward1,359 1,569 
Lease obligations21,958 20,938 
Intangibles81 — 
Other future deductible amounts, net5,236 5,988 
 64,256 62,715 
Less deferred tax asset valuation allowance864 1,185 
 63,392 61,530 
Deferred tax liabilities:  
Intangibles— 652 
Prepaid expenses5,874 5,142 
Lease right of use assets21,986 21,177 
Property and equipment29,531 27,731 
 57,391 54,702 
Net deferred tax asset--noncurrent$6,001 $6,828 
We treat all of our Canadian subsidiary earnings through December 31, 2023 as permanently reinvested and have not provided any U.S. federal or state tax thereon. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $23,830 of undistributed earnings attributable to our Canadian operations was considered to be indefinitely invested. Presently, our intention is to reinvest the earnings permanently.
If, in the future, these earnings are distributed to the U.S. in the form of dividends or otherwise, or if the Company determines such earnings will be remitted in the foreseeable future, the Company would be subject to Canadian withholding taxes. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of taxes that would be payable upon remittance of these earnings given the various tax planning alternatives that we could employ should we decide to repatriate those earnings.
As of December 31, 2020, we recorded a valuation allowance on foreign tax credit carryforwards that arose due to the transition toll tax on the deemed repatriation of deferred foreign earnings of non-U.S. operations due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Management presently believes that it is more-likely-than-not that the deferred tax asset, related to the foreign tax credits that expire in 2027, will not be fully realized. The criteria considered in making the determination included the ability to utilize tax-planning strategies, historical and projected operating results, and the period of time over which the foreign tax credit can be utilized.
The amount of income taxes that we pay is subject to audit by U.S. federal, state, local and Canadian tax authorities, which may result in proposed assessments. Our estimate for the potential outcome for any uncertain tax issue is highly judgmental. Uncertain tax positions are recognized only if they are more-likely-than-not to be upheld during examination based on their technical merits. The measurement of the
uncertain tax position is based on the largest benefit amount that is more-likely-than-not (determined on a cumulative probability basis) to be realized upon settlement of the matter. If payment of these amounts ultimately proves to be unnecessary, the reversal of the liabilities would result in tax benefits being recognized in the period when we determine the liabilities are no longer necessary. If the estimate of tax liabilities proves to be less than the ultimate settlement, a further charge to expense may result.
The balance of unrecognized benefits and the amount of related interest and penalties at December 31, were as follows:
 December 31,
 20232022
Unrecognized tax benefits$1,022 $638 
Portion, if recognized, would reduce tax expense and effective tax rate369 311 
Accrued interest on unrecognized tax benefits47 53 
We recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. Penalties, if incurred, would be recognized as a component of income tax expense.
The Company is routinely under audit by U.S. federal, state, local and Canadian authorities in the area of income tax. These audits include questioning the timing and the amount of income and deductions and the allocation of income and deductions among various tax jurisdictions. With the exception of U.S. state jurisdictions and Canada, the Company is no longer subject to examination by tax authorities for the years through 2019. As of December 31, 2023, we believe it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will not significantly increase or decrease.
The changes in our unrecognized tax benefits are summarized in the table below:
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Balance, beginning of year$638 $700 $1,183 
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year436 24 4 
Additions for tax positions of prior years39 — — 
Reductions for tax positions of prior years— (8)(13)
Lapses in statutes of limitations(91)(78)(474)
Balance, end of year$1,022 $638 $700