Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2015

Income Taxes

NOTE 5 – INCOME TAXES
Income Tax Benefit (Expense)
The Company’s income tax benefit (expense) for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively, consisted of the following components:
(In thousands)	Three Months Ended June 30,				Six Months Ended June 30,
	2015		2014		2015		2014
Current tax benefit (expense)	$	(23,309)	$	7,492	$	(63,694)	$	(35,587)
Deferred tax benefit (expense)		1,232		(6,871)		(14,988)		(32,179)
Income tax benefit (expense)	$	(22,077)	$	621	$	(78,682)	$	(67,766)

The effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30,2015 were (87.5)% and (22.2)%, respectively. The effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30,2014 were 0.4% and (12.6)%, respectively. The effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30,2015and 2014were primarily impacted by the valuation allowance recorded against deferred tax assets resulting from applicable period net operating losses in U.S. federal, state and certain foreign jurisdictions due to the uncertainty of the ability to utilize those assets in future periods.