INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of reconciliation of effective income tax rate related to continuing operations

The Company’s effective income tax rate related to continuing operations varied from the maximum federal income tax rate as follows:

	For The Year Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
Statutory federal income tax rate applied to pre-tax income	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
State income taxes	(0.3)		0.4		4.2
Investment income not subject to tax	(2.5)		(1.6)		(4.5)
Prior period adjustments	(0.4)		0.1		1.6
Other	(0.6)		(0.8)		(0.6)
	17.2	%	19.1	%	21.7	%

Schedule of components of income tax

The components of the Company’s income tax are as follows:

	For The Year Ended December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Current income tax expense (benefit):
Federal	$	113,821	$	381,202	$	113,925
State	(4,965)		9,112		9,699
Total current	$	108,856	$	390,314	$	123,624
Deferred income tax expense (benefit):
Federal	$	(41,270)	$	(254,184)	$	(73,364)
State	3,576		(5,666)		3,401
Total deferred	$	(37,694)	$	(259,850)	$	(69,963)

Schedule of components of the Company's net deferred income tax liability

The components of the Company’s net deferred income tax liability are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2020		2019
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Loss and credit carryforwards	$	124,024	$	132,295
Deferred compensation	53,797		55,559
Deferred policy acquisition costs	141,946		217,967
Premium on non-recourse funding obligations	236		784
Valuation allowance	(9,073)		(9,153)
	310,930		397,452
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Premium receivables and policy liabilities	227,560		211,458
VOBA and other intangibles	581,993		596,756
Invested assets (other than unrealized gains (losses))	370,418		557,763
Net unrealized gains on investments	941,972		376,288
Other	53,167		27,157
	2,175,110		1,769,422
Net deferred income tax liability	$	(1,864,180)	$	(1,371,970)

Schedule of reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2020		2019		2018
	(Dollars In Thousands)
Balance, beginning of period	$	1,791	$	7,134	$	11,353
Additions for tax positions of the current year	—		—		—
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—		—		—
Reductions of tax positions of prior years:
Changes in judgment	—		—		(4,219)
Settlements during the period	—		(5,343)		—
Lapses of applicable statute of limitations	—		—		—
Balance, end of period	$	1,791	$	1,791	$	7,134