Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

Note 5: Income Taxes

The following table lists the components of the (benefit) provision for income taxes:

Years ended December 31,	2016			2015			2014
(in thousands)
Current (benefit) provision:
Federal	$	(43,993	)	$	(24,727	)	$	119,074
State		(24,479	)		(3,638	)		19,858
Foreign		4,567			7,898			2,907
Deferred (benefit) provision:
Federal		(31,505	)		(31,178	)		11,514
State		(2,704	)		(1,835	)		840
Total income tax (benefit) provision	$	(98,114	)	$	(53,480	)	$	154,193

Reconciliation between the federal statutory rate and RPC’s effective tax rate is as follows:

Years ended December 31,	2016			2015			2014
Federal statutory rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit		1.3			—			3.3
Tax credits		0.1			0.3			(0.7	)
Non-deductible expenses		(0.7	)		(1.3	)		0.4
Change in contingencies		6.6			—			—
Other		(1.3	)		0.9			0.6
Effective tax rate		41.0	%		34.9	%		38.6	%

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

December 31,	2016			2015
(in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Self-insurance	$	5,907		$	7,274
Pension		11,995			12,048
State net operating loss carryforwards		1,455			370
Bad debt		991			4,041
Accrued payroll		857			1,330
Stock-based compensation		5,847			5,885
All others		2,483			4,704
Valuation allowance		(356	)		(276	)
Gross deferred tax assets		29,179			35,376
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation		(95,606	)		(137,606	)
Goodwill amortization		(9,340	)		(8,887	)
Basis differences in variable interest entities		(5,281	)		(4,876	)
Basis differences in joint ventures		(396	)		518
All others		(22	)		(20	)
Gross deferred tax liabilities		(110,645	)		(150,871	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(81,466	)	$	(115,495	)

As of December 31, 2016, undistributed earnings of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries totaled $10.2 million. Additional U.S. taxes due upon full repatriation would be negligible. However, those earnings are considered to be indefinitely reinvested and, accordingly, no U.S. federal and state income taxes have been provided thereon. Upon distribution of these earnings in the form of dividends or otherwise, the Company would be subject to both U.S. income taxes and withholding taxes payable to the foreign countries. The Company’s current intention is to permanently reinvest funds held in our foreign subsidiaries outside of the U.S., with the possible exception of repatriation of funds that have been previously subject to U.S. federal and state taxation or when it would be tax effective through the utilization of foreign tax credits, or would otherwise create no additional U.S. tax cost.

As of December 31, 2016, the Company has net operating loss carryforwards related to state income taxes of approximately $33.5 million that will expire between 2017 and 2035. As of December 31, 2016, the Company has a valuation allowance of approximately $356 thousand, representing the tax affected amount of loss carryforwards that the Company does not expect to utilize, against the corresponding deferred tax asset.

Total net income tax (refunds) payments were $(42.4) million in 2016, $(7.9) million in 2015, and $152.2 million in 2014.

The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal and state income taxes in multiple jurisdictions. In many cases our uncertain tax positions are related to tax years that remain open and subject to examination by the relevant taxing authorities. The Company’s 2013 through 2016 tax years remain open to examination. Additional years may be open to the extent attributes are being carried forward to an open year.

The Company’s subsidiaries are also subject to foreign income taxes in certain jurisdictions. In November 2016, the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) initiated an examination of the Company’s Canadian subsidiary for the periods 2013 – 2015. As of December 31, 2016, the CRA has not proposed any adjustments in connection with this examination.

During 2016, the Company recognized a decrease in its liability for unrecognized tax benefits in the current year related primarily due to settlements with state tax authorities. The remaining liability, if recognized, would affect our effective rate. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	2016			2015
Balance at January 1	$	26,152,000		$	23,267,000
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		0			2,171,000
Additions for tax positions of prior years		0			714,000
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		(23,937,000	)		0
Balance at December 31	$	2,215,000		$	26,152,000

The Company’s policy is to record interest and penalties related to income tax matters as income tax expense. Accrued interest and penalties as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 were approximately $76 thousand and $411 thousand, respectively.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of the unrecognized tax benefits with respect to our unrecognized tax positions will significantly decrease in the next 12 months. These changes may result from, among other things, state tax settlements under or conclusions of ongoing examinations or reviews, however, quantification of an estimated range cannot be made at this time.