Income Tax Provision

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Provision

Income Tax Provision

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, we had effective income tax rates of 14.6% and 12.4%, respectively, compared to 17.2% and 25.2% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively. The effective income tax rates for the periods presented were different from the statutory United States federal income tax rate of 35% principally due to excess tax benefits related to stock option exercises. The excess tax benefits related to stock option exercises realized were $8.5 million and $18.6 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, compared to $6.3 million and $7.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively. Excluding the excess tax benefits, the effective rates were 37.5% and 37.9% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, respectively, compared to 37.9% and 38.1% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, respectively. Other differences from our federal statutory income tax rate included state income taxes, non-deductible business expenses, and the tax benefit of the domestic production activities deduction.

We made tax payments of $27.5 million and $17.6 million in the six months ended June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2016, respectively.