INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

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, 2016, 2015 and 2014:

In thousands
	2016			2015		2014
United States	$	381,100		$	378,815	$	441,029
Foreign		(52,955	)		32,092		46,539
Total income before income taxes	$	328,145		$	410,907	$	487,568

Significant Components of Income Tax Expense

Significant components of our income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:

In thousands
	2016			2015			2014
Current
United States - federal	$	102,050		$	105,941		$	118,217
United States - state and local		11,615			15,544			13,023
Foreign		10,601			16,512			14,930
		124,266			137,997			146,170
Deferred
United States - federal		19,052			23,762			29,730
United States - state and local		(2,466	)		2,504			948
Foreign		(20,606	)		(21,369	)		(15,339	)
Foreign - changes in statutory rates		—			—			(2,087	)
		(4,020	)		4,897			13,252
Total provision	$	120,246		$	142,894		$	159,422

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, 2016, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:

	2016			2015			2014
Federal statutory income tax rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
Effect of:
State and local taxes, net of federal tax effect		1.6	%		3.1	%		1.9	%
Foreign tax rates		2.1	%		(0.4	)%		(0.5	)%
Change in deferred tax assets from an increase in tax basis of foreign assets		—			(2.2	)%		(1.8	)%
Other		(2.1	)%		(0.7	)%		(1.9	)%
Effective tax rate		36.6	%		34.8	%		32.7	%

Deferred Tax Liabilities and Assets

Our deferred tax liabilities and assets at December 31, 2016 and 2015 were as follows:

In thousands
	2016			2015
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	$	(78,478	)	$	(44,914	)
Goodwill and intangibles		(690,387	)		(719,789	)
Other		(7,906	)		(5,747	)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(776,771	)		(770,450	)
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities		93,706			69,895
Stock based compensation		17,861			74,794
Net operating tax loss carry-forwards		38,254			37,976
Less: valuation allowance		(15,392	)		(17,585	)
Total deferred tax assets		134,429			165,080
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(642,342	)	$	(605,370	)

Changes in Unrecognized Tax Positions

The following table summarizes the changes in unrecognized tax positions during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015:

In thousands
Unrecognized tax positions, January 1, 2015	$	15,095
Gross increases - tax positions in prior periods		7,239
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior periods		(793	)
Gross increases - current period tax positions		5,976
Settlement		(200	)
Lapse of statute of limitations		(2,375	)
Unrecognized tax positions, December 31, 2015	$	24,942
Gross increases - tax positions in prior periods		809
Gross increases - current period tax positions		2,876
Settlement		(218	)
Lapse of statute of limitations		(1,751	)
Unrecognized tax positions, December 31, 2016	$	26,658