Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Components of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes

The components of earnings from continuing operations before income taxes and the provision for income taxes from continuing operations were as follows:



	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013	2012
	(In thousands)
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes:
United States	$	275,912		302,689	241,672
Foreign	62,637			66,206	61,445
Total	$	338,549		368,895	303,117
Current tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations:
Federal ⁽¹⁾	$	(230	)	233	(4,157	)
State ⁽¹⁾	6,396			4,194	11,514
Foreign	7,163			7,691	7,759
	13,329			12,118	15,116
Deferred tax expense from continuing operations:
Federal	90,104			98,036	77,819
State	12,429			15,399	3,871
Foreign	2,228			146	5,412
	104,761			113,581	87,102
Provision for income taxes from continuing operations	$	118,090		125,699	102,218

______________


(1)	Excludes federal and state tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock awards, which were credited directly to “Additional paid-in capital.”

Reconciliation of federal statutory tax rate with effective tax rate from continuing operations

A reconciliation of the federal statutory tax rate with the effective tax rate from continuing operations follows:



	Years ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
	(Percentage of pre-tax earnings)
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0		35.0		35.0
Impact on deferred taxes for changes in tax rates	(0.9	)	0.1		—
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	5.2		4.0		4.1
Foreign rates varying from federal	(3.7	)	(4.1	)	(2.8	)
Tax reviews and audits	(1.1	)	(0.8	)	(2.7	)
Miscellaneous items, net	0.4		(0.1	)	0.1
Effective tax rate	34.9		34.1		33.7

Summary of the increases (decreases) to net earnings from continuing operations from changes in tax laws

The following provides a summary of the increases (decreases) to net earnings from continuing operations from changes in tax laws by tax jurisdiction:



Tax Jurisdiction	Enactment Date	Net Earnings
		(in thousands)
2014
New York	March 31, 2014	$1,776
Rhode Island	June 19, 2014	$626

2013
Puerto Rico	June 30, 2013	$(503)
United Kingdom	July 17, 2013	$485

2012
United Kingdom	July 17,2012	$(856)
Canada	June 20, 2012	$(671)

Components of net deferred income tax liability

The components of the net deferred income tax liability were as follows:



	December 31,
	2014			2013
	(In thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Self-insurance accruals	$	81,908		69,291
Net operating loss carryforwards	377,740			322,380
Alternative minimum taxes	10,727			10,727
Accrued compensation and benefits	68,626			60,039
Federal benefit on state tax positions	18,847			18,417
Pension benefits	157,082			87,745
Miscellaneous other accruals	33,090			39,414
	748,020			608,013
Valuation allowance	(24,742		)	(33,793	)
	723,278			574,220
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment bases difference	(2,149,699		)	(1,943,923	)
Other items	(16,996		)	(22,503	)
	(2,166,695		)	(1,966,426	)
Net deferred income tax liability ⁽¹⁾	$	(1,443,417	)	(1,392,206	)

______________


(1)	Deferred tax assets of $33 million and $37 million have been included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” at December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Summary of activity related to unrecognized tax benefits

The following table summarizes the activity related to unrecognized tax benefits (excluding the federal benefit received from state positions):



	December 31,
	2014			2013		2012
	(In thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	56,813		52,271		62,247
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	6,896			7,606		3,980
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statutes of limitation	(3,227		)	(3,064	)	(13,956	)
Gross balance at December 31	60,482			56,813		52,271
Interest and penalties	5,125			5,756		5,319
Balance at December 31	$	65,607		62,569		57,590

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities (i.e., uncertain tax positions) and other types of income tax contingencies, including: (1) the policy on classification of interest and penalties; (2) a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning and end of the period; the total amount(s) of: (3) unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate, and (4) interest and penalties recognized in each of the income statement and balance sheet; (5) for positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months of the reporting date the: (i) nature of the uncertainty, (ii) nature of the event that could occur that would cause the change, and (iii) an estimate of the range of the reasonably possible change or a statement that an estimate of the range cannot be made; and (6) a description of tax years that remain subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions.

+ References+ Details