(6) Income Taxes

Total income taxes for 2016, 2015 and 2014 were allocated as follows:



	2016			2015		2014
	(Amounts are in thousands)
Earnings	$	914,688		904,213		834,813
Other comprehensive (losses) earnings	(1,789		)	(52,183	)	13,938
	$	912,899		852,030		848,751

The provision for income taxes consists of the following:



	Current		Deferred		Total
	(Amounts are in thousands)
2016
Federal	$	820,989		20,697	841,686
State	69,342			3,660	73,002
	$	890,331		24,357	914,688
2015
Federal	$	758,084		97,586	855,670
State	37,555			10,988	48,543
	$	795,639		108,574	904,213
2014
Federal	$	754,187		2,021	756,208
State	78,234			371	78,605
	$	832,421		2,392	834,813

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes at the federal statutory tax rate of 35% to earnings before income taxes compared to the Company’s actual income tax expense is as follows:



	2016			2015		2014
	(Amounts are in thousands)
Federal tax at statutory tax rate	$	1,029,132		1,004,241		899,542
State income taxes (net of federal tax benefit)	47,451			31,553		51,093
ESOP dividend	(65,232		)	(62,630	)	(61,270	)
Other, net	(96,663		)	(68,951	)	(54,552	)
	$	914,688		904,213		834,813

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities as of December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015 are as follows:



	2016		2015
	(Amounts are in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Self-insurance reserves	$	119,613	118,082
Retirement plan contributions	63,432		61,898
Postretirement benefit cost	41,362		40,883
Investment tax credits	33,170		6,832
Inventory capitalization	18,294		15,072
Purchase allowances	18,005		13,792
Leases	15,903		19,250
Reserves not currently deductible	8,675		10,873
Other	3,649		1,489
Total deferred tax assets	$	322,103	288,171
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment, primarily due to depreciation	$	704,233	615,408
Other	14,354		46,679
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	718,587	662,087

The Company expects the results of future operations and the reversal of deferred tax liabilities to generate sufficient taxable income to allow utilization of deferred tax assets; therefore, no valuation allowance has been recorded as of December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015.

The Company has analyzed filing positions in all of the federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns as well as all open tax years in these jurisdictions. The periods subject to examination for the Company’s federal return are the 2010 through 2015 tax years. The periods subject to examination for the Company’s state returns are the 2011 through 2015 tax years. The Company believes that the outcome of any examination will not have a material effect on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

The Company had no unrecognized tax benefits in 2016 and 2015. As a result, there will be no effect on the Company’s effective income tax rate in future periods due to the recognition of unrecognized tax benefits.