INCOME TAXES

The U.S. and International components of income before income taxes consisted of the following for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012:



In thousands
	2014		2013		2012
United States	$	441,029	$	407,315	$	357,076
Foreign	46,539		70,431		60,121
Total income before income taxes	$	487,568	$	477,746	$	417,197

Significant components of our income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:



In thousands
	2014			2013			2012
Current
United States - federal	$	118,217		$	103,751		$	95,864
United States - state and local	13,023			11,683			14,034
Foreign	14,930			24,486			17,192
	146,170			139,920			127,090
Deferred
United States - federal	29,730			31,808			25,028
United States - state and local	948			5,510			3,881
Foreign	(15,339		)	(10,246		)	(8,743		)
Foreign - changes in statutory rates	(2,087		)	(2,330		)	—
	13,252			24,742			20,166
Total provision	$	159,422		$	164,662		$	147,256

A reconciliation of the income tax provision computed at the federal statutory rate to the effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012 are as follows:



	2014		2013		2012
Federal statutory income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Effect of:
State and local taxes, net of federal tax effect	1.9	%	2.3	%	2.9	%
Foreign tax rates	(0.5	)%	(0.8	)%	(1.2	)%
Change in deferred tax assets from an increase in tax basis of foreign assets	(1.8	)%	—	%	—	%
Other	(1.9	)%	(2.0	)%	(1.4	)%
Effective tax rate	32.7	%	34.5	%	35.3	%

Cash payments for income taxes were $128.1 million, $102.1 million, and $104.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Our deferred tax liabilities and assets at December 31, 2014 and 2013 were as follows:



In thousands
	2014			2013
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	$	(41,071	)	$	(43,280	)
Goodwill and intangibles	(453,854		)	(387,942		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(494,925		)	(431,222		)
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities	32,664			20,415
Stock based compensation	21,139			20,361
Other	17,922			5,264
Net operating tax loss carry-forwards	20,017			8,097
Less: valuation allowance	(56		)	(1,122		)
Total deferred tax assets	91,686			53,015
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(403,239	)	$	(378,207	)

At December 31, 2014, net operating loss carry-forwards for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes have been fully utilized, excluding net operating loss carry-forwards related to our acquisitions. The net operating loss carry-forwards from foreign and domestic acquisitions are approximately $58 million and certain of these net operating loss carry-forwards begin to expire in 2017. The tax benefit of these net operating losses is approximately $20 million at December 31, 2014, on which a valuation allowance of $56 thousand was recorded offsetting such tax benefit. During 2014, we reversed valuation allowances previously recorded in Japan, because net operating tax loss carry-forwards are now considered more likely than not to be realized. The valuation allowance primarily relates to loss carry-forwards for which limitations are in place and utilization before their expiration is uncertain.

Undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries are considered permanently reinvested, and therefore no deferred taxes are recorded thereon. The cumulative amounts of such earnings are approximately $421 million at December 31, 2014, and it is not practicable to estimate the amount of tax that may be payable upon distribution assuming repatriation.

We and our subsidiaries file U.S. federal income tax returns and income tax returns in various states and foreign jurisdictions. With a few exceptions, we are no longer subject to U.S. federal, state, local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2011. In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service concluded an audit of our 2010 Corporate Income Tax return with no significant adjustments.

The Company has recorded accruals to cover certain unrecognized tax positions. Such unrecognized tax positions relate to additional taxes that the Company may be required to pay in various tax jurisdictions. During the course of examinations by various taxing authorities, proposed adjustments may be asserted. The Company evaluates such items on a case-by-case basis and adjusts the accrual for unrecognized tax positions as deemed necessary. The estimated amount of liability associated with the Company’s unrecognized tax positions that may significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months cannot be reasonably estimated.

The total amount of unrecognized tax positions at December 31, 2014 is $15.1 million. The amount of unrecognized tax positions that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate is approximately $15.1 million. We recognized interest and penalties accrued related to income tax reserves in the amount of $0.3 million and $0.4 million, for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, as a component of income tax expense.

The following table summarizes the changes in unrecognized tax positions during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013:



In thousands
Unrecognized tax positions at January 1, 2013	$	16,104
Gross increases - tax positions in prior period	267
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior period	(1,129		)
Gross increases - current period tax positions	2,514
Settlement	—
Lapse of statute of limitations	(2,846		)
Unrecognized tax positions at December 31, 2013	$	14,910
Gross increases - tax positions in prior period	200
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior period	(762		)
Gross increases - current period tax positions	3,081
Settlement	(1,165		)
Lapse of statute of limitations	(1,169		)
Unrecognized tax positions at December 31, 2014	$	15,095