INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

The domestic and foreign components of income before provision (benefit) for income taxes were as follows (in thousands):



	For the years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Domestic	$	156,571		$	115,070		$	101,714
Foreign	(8,332		)	(20,588		)	(43,025		)
Total	$	148,239		$	94,482		$	58,689

Schedule of Components of Provision for Income Taxes

The provision (benefit) for income taxes consisted of the following (in thousands):



	For the years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Current:
Federal	$	20,482		$	(7,677	)	$	25,613
State	14,564			12,653			11,083
Foreign	7,448			4,781			4,589
	42,494			9,757			41,285
Deferred
Federal	7,933			19,899			(85,488		)
State	550			(1,205		)	1,085
Foreign	(478		)	395			1,068
	8,005			19,089			(83,335		)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	50,499		$	28,846		$	(42,050	)

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The effective income tax rate varied from the amount computed using the statutory federal income tax rate as follows (in thousands):



	For the years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Tax expense at US statutory rate	$	31,130		$	19,841		$	20,541
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	10,597			8,711			4,547
Foreign rate differential	276			(1,124		)	3,733
Valuation allowance	4,459			10,466			16,552
Uncertain tax position interest and penalties	474			(1,806		)	3,730
Tax credits	(50		)	(9,799		)	—
Non-deductible compensation	1,922			1,813			256
Other	1,691			1,032			1,600
Adjustment for Tax Cuts and Jobs Act	—			(288		)	(93,009		)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	50,499		$	28,846		$	(42,050	)

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the total net deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):



	2019			2018
Deferred tax assets:
Provision for doubtful accounts	$	8,949		$	10,715
Closure, post-closure and remedial liabilities	26,960			28,380
Operating lease liabilities	40,879			—
Accrued expenses	17,602			15,686
Accrued compensation	7,155			7,774
Net operating loss carryforwards⁽¹⁾	50,824			43,284
Tax credit carryforwards⁽²⁾	16,909			16,909
Uncertain tax positions accrued interest and federal benefit	4,176			519
Stock-based compensation	2,435			3,440
Other	10,418			7,067
Total deferred tax assets	186,307			133,774
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(184,594		)	(164,246		)
Operating lease right-of-use assets	(40,985		)	—
Permits and other intangible assets	(98,654		)	(103,539		)
Prepaid expenses	(9,694		)	(9,187		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(333,927		)	(276,972		)
Total net deferred tax liability before valuation allowance	(147,620		)	(143,198		)
Less valuation allowance	(83,643		)	(79,295		)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(231,263	)	$	(222,493	)

___________________________________


(1)	As of December 31, 2019, the net operating loss carryforwards included (i) state net operating loss carryovers of $201.8 million which will begin to expire in 2020, (ii) federal net operating loss carryforwards of $25.5 million which will begin to expire in 2025 and (iii) foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $145.0 million which will begin to expire in 2020.

(2)

As of December 31, 2019, the foreign tax credit carryforwards of $16.6 million will expire between 2020 and 2024.

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies

The changes to unrecognized tax benefits (excluding related penalties and interest) from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019, were as follows (in thousands):



	2019			2018			2017
Unrecognized tax benefits as of January 1	$	3,159		$	5,121		$	1,738
Additions to current year tax positions	—			—			1,457
(Reductions) additions to prior year tax positions	3,354			(625		)	2,031
Expirations	(209		)	(1,115		)	(231		)
Foreign currency translation	110			(222		)	126
Unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31	$	6,414		$	3,159		$	5,121