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Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
We recorded an income tax provision of $95.0 million and $61.3 million for the six months ended April 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The effective tax rate for the six months ended April 30, 2016 was 36.9%, compared to 29.1% for the six months ended April 30, 2015. For the three months ended April 30, 2016 and 2015, we recorded an income tax provision of $51.3 million and $18.6 million, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three months ended April 30, 2016, was 36.6%, compared to 21.5% for the three months ended April 30, 2015. The income tax provisions for all periods included the provision for state income taxes and interest accrued on anticipated tax assessments, offset by tax benefits related to the utilization of domestic production activities deductions and other permanent differences. The income tax provision for the six and three months ended April 30, 2015 also benefited from a $13.7 million reversal of a previously recognized tax provision related to a settlement with a taxing jurisdiction.
We currently operate in 19 states and are subject to various state tax jurisdictions. We estimate our state tax liability based upon the individual taxing authorities’ regulations, estimates of income by taxing jurisdiction, and our ability to utilize certain tax-saving strategies. Based on our estimate of the allocation of income or loss among the various taxing jurisdictions and changes in tax regulations and their impact on our tax strategies, we estimate our rate for the full fiscal year 2016 for state income taxes will be 6.6%. Our state income tax rate for the full fiscal year 2015 was 6.3%.
For state tax purposes, due to past and projected losses in certain jurisdictions where we do not have carryback potential and/or cannot sufficiently forecast future taxable income, we recognized net cumulative valuation allowances against our state deferred tax assets of $31.4 million and $31.1 million as of April 30, 2016 and October 31, 2015, respectively.
At April 30, 2016, we had $54.8 million of gross unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties. If these unrecognized tax benefits were to reverse in the future, they would have a beneficial impact on our effective tax rate at that time. During the next 12 months, it is reasonably possible that our unrecognized tax benefits will change, but we are not able to provide a range of such change. The possible changes would be principally due to the expiration of tax statutes, settlements with taxing jurisdictions, increases due to new tax positions taken, and the accrual of estimated interest and penalties.