Income taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes on Income from Continuing Operations

The provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations consists of the following (in thousands):




2017	Current		Deferred			Total
Federal	$	81,355	$	(214,539	)	$	(133,184	)
State and other	7,981		(12,043		)	(4,062		)
Total	$	89,336	$	(226,582	)	$	(137,246	)




2016	Current		Deferred			Total
Federal	$	155,558	$	(4,323	)	$	151,235
State and other	5,792		(16,856		)	(11,064		)
Total	$	161,350	$	(21,179	)	$	140,171




2015	Current		Deferred			Total
Federal	$	72,291	$	47,547		$	119,838
State and other	3,984		(7,762		)	(3,778		)
Total	$	76,275	$	39,785		$	116,060

Reconciliation of Effective Tax Rate

The provision for income taxes varies from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate as a result of the following differences:



	2017	2016	2015
U.S. statutory tax rate	35.0%	35.0%	35.0%
Increase (decrease) in taxes resulting from:
State taxes (net of federal income tax benefit)	2.4	2.4	2.5
Domestic manufacturing deduction	(3.0)	(3.3)	(2.1)
Uncertain tax positions, settlements and lapse of statutes of limitations	(0.9)	(0.5)	0.6
Net deferred tax write offs and deferred tax rate adjustments	(6.3)	(2.4)	(3.6)
Enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act	(70.9)	—	—
Non-deductible transactions costs	1.2	0.8	1.0
Non-deductible goodwill	—	—	0.7
Net excess benefits on share-based payments	(0.4)	(1.4)	—
Other, net	(1.3)	0.6	(0.5)
Effective tax rate	(44.2%)	31.2%	33.6%

Deferred Tax Liabilities and Assets

Deferred tax liabilities and assets were composed of the following at the end of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 (in thousands):




	Dec. 31, 2017			Dec. 31, 2016
Liabilities
Accelerated depreciation	$	40,568		$	79,986
Accelerated amortization of deductible intangibles	420,301			658,651
Partnership investments including impairments	—			40,907
Other	5,255			3,924
Total deferred tax liabilities	466,124			783,468
Assets
Accrued compensation costs	15,133			31,929
Pension and postretirement medical and life	39,769			78,318
Loss carryforwards	132,214			197,812
Other	33,116			36,428
Total deferred tax assets	220,232			344,487
Valuation allowance	136,418			209,939
Total net deferred tax (liabilities)	$	(382,310	)	$	(648,920	)

Summary of Activity Related to Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Excluding Federal Tax Benefit of State Tax Deductions

The following table summarizes the activity related to unrecognized tax benefits, excluding the federal tax benefit of state tax deductions (in thousands):




	2017			2016			2015
Change in unrecognized tax benefits
Balance at beginning of year	$	17,300		$	19,491		$	58,886
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	156			213			6,095
Additions for tax positions of prior years	11			162			853
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(636		)	(1,214		)	(24,858		)
Settlements	(852		)	—			—
Reductions for transfers to Gannett Co., Inc.	—			—			(18,804		)
Reductions due to lapse of statutes of limitations	(936		)	(1,352		)	(2,681		)
Balance at end of year	$	15,043		$	17,300		$	19,491