Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31 consists of the following (in thousands):



	2017		2016			2015
Current:
Federal	$	245,189	$	284,489		$	363,803
State	24,898		28,406			37,811
Foreign	21,138		19,017			12,826
	291,225		331,912			414,440
Deferred:
Federal	47,046		(4,250		)	(15,474		)
State	2,688		7,038			(2,264		)
Foreign	1,121		(2,953		)	1,254
	50,855		(165		)	(16,484		)
Total	$	342,080	$	331,747		$	397,956

Components Of Income Before Taxes

The components of income before income taxes for the years ended December 31 were as follows (in thousands):



	2017		2016		2015
Domestic	$	788,878	$	954,138	$	1,101,427
Foreign	74,961		69,773		48,736
Total	$	863,839	$	1,023,911	$	1,150,163

Provision For Income Tax Rate To Statutory Rate Reconciliation

The provision for income taxes differs from the amount that would be provided by applying the statutory U.S. corporate income tax rate due to the following items for the years ended December 31:



	2017		2016		2015
Provision at statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of federal benefit	1.9		1.8		1.8
Foreign rate differential	(0.8	)	(0.6	)	(0.4	)
Domestic manufacturing deduction	(2.2	)	(2.1	)	(2.1	)
Research and development credit	(0.7	)	(0.4	)	(0.4	)
Unrecognized tax benefits including interest and penalties	2.3		(1.3	)	1.1
Valuation allowance adjustments	(0.1	)	0.1		(0.1	)
Deferred remeasurement for rate change	5.5		—		—
Tax reform territorial tax	(0.1	)	—		—
Adjustments for previously accrued taxes	(1.2	)	0.2		(0.1	)
Other	—		(0.3	)	(0.2	)
Provision for income taxes	39.6	%	32.4	%	34.6	%

Principal Components Of The Company's Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

The principal components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31 include the following (in thousands):



	2017			2016
Deferred tax assets:
Accruals not yet tax deductible	$	92,158		$	141,961
Pension and postretirement benefit plan obligations	37,357			88,741
Stock compensation	12,669			19,051
Net operating loss carryforward	33,171			33,587
Valuation allowance	(21,561		)	(30,953		)
Other, net	52,422			56,903
	206,216			309,290
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation, tax in excess of book	(88,989		)	(139,268		)
Other	(8,154		)	(2,293		)
	(97,143		)	(141,561		)
Total	$	109,073		$	167,729

Changes In Gross Liability For Unrecognized Tax Benefits Excluding Interest And Penalties

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. Changes in the Company’s gross liability for unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, were as follows (in thousands):



	2017			2016
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of period	$	55,539		$	73,100
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken in a prior period	9,513			2,828
Decrease in unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken in a prior period	(3,749		)	(21,061		)
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken in the current period	13,779			7,402
Statute lapses	—			(1,907		)
Settlements with taxing authorities	(2,852		)	(4,823		)
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of period	$	72,230		$	55,539