INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

United States and International Components of Income Before 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 Income Tax Expense

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

Reconciliation of Income Tax Provision Computed at Federal Statutory Rate to Effective Tax Rate

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	%

Deferred Tax Liabilities and Assets

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	)

Changes in Unrecognized Tax Positions

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