INCOME TAXES

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017, and lowered the federal corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35% effective January 1, 2018. In accounting for income taxes, deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are measured using the enacted tax rates that are expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. As a result of the reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate under the Tax Act, the Company revalued its ending net deferred income tax liabilities at December 31, 2017 and recognized a provisional $110.5 million income tax benefit.

The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act. The Company has recognized the provisional tax impact related to the revaluation of deferred income tax assets and liabilities and included the amount in its consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017. The ultimate impact may differ from the provisional amount due to, among other things, additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions the Company has made, and additional regulatory guidance that may be issued. The accounting is expected to be completed when the Company’s 2017 income tax returns are filed later in 2018.

Income tax expense consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017			2016		2015
Current:
Federal	$	38,535		$	237	$	32,090
State	3,979			2,928		5,665
Foreign	102			534		1,250
	42,616			3,699		39,005
Deferred:
Federal	(104,573		)	42,895		33,912
State	3,625			1,737		4,530
	(100,948		)	44,632		38,442
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	(58,332	)	$	48,331	$	77,447

The effective income tax rate differs from the federal corporate tax rate of 35% in 2017, 2016 and 2015 as follows (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2017			2016				2015
Tax at statutory rate	$	50,595		$	44,611			$	70,406
Change in federal income tax rate	(110,508		)	—			—	—
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefits	4,943			3,032				6,627
Non-deductible meals and entertainment	1,495			1,549				1,687
Income tax credits	(1,780		)	(1,900		)		(1,700		)
Equity compensation	(820		)	—			—	—
Other, net	(2,257		)	1,039				427
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	(58,332	)	$	48,331			$	77,447

At December 31, deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2017		2016
Deferred income tax assets:
Insurance and claims accruals	$	41,986	$	74,015
Compensation-related accruals	6,797		10,056
Allowance for uncollectible accounts	3,599		6,135
Other	1,979		4,168
Gross deferred income tax assets	54,361		94,374
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	243,482		377,093
Prepaid expenses	4,699		7,737
Other	1,367		2,313
Gross deferred income tax liabilities	249,548		387,143
Net deferred income tax liability	$	195,187	$	292,769

Deferred income tax assets are more likely than not to be realized as a result of future taxable income and reversal of deferred income tax liabilities.

We recognized a $1.6 million decrease in the net liability for unrecognized tax benefits for the year ended December 31, 2017, including the impact of the federal tax rate change, and a $1.1 million decrease for the year ended December 31, 2016. We accrued interest expense of $0.2 million during 2017 and $0.2 million during 2016, excluding from both years the reversal of accrued interest related to the adjustment of uncertain tax positions. If recognized, $2.3 million of unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2017 and $3.9 million as of December 31, 2016 would impact our effective tax rate. Interest of $0.4 million as of December 31, 2017 and $1.1 million as of December 31, 2016 has been reflected as a component of the total liability. We expect no other significant increases or decreases for uncertain tax positions during the next twelve months. The reconciliations of beginning and ending gross balances of unrecognized tax benefits for 2017 and 2016 are shown below (in thousands).



	December 31,
	2017			2016
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning balance	$	6,055		$	7,717
Gross increases – tax positions in prior period	168			236
Gross decreases – tax positions in prior period	—			(217		)
Gross increases – current-period tax positions	136			473
Settlements	(3,476		)	(2,154		)
Unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	2,883		$	6,055

We file U.S. federal income tax returns, as well as income tax returns in various states and several foreign jurisdictions. The years 2014 through 2016 are open for examination by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and various years are open for examination by state and foreign tax authorities. State and foreign jurisdictional statutes of limitations generally range from three to four years.