Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Note 4. Income Taxes

The components of the provision for income taxes are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)	2019		2018		2017
Current:
Federal	$	152,836	$	113,491	$	169,053
State		42,438		38,647		25,644
		195,274		152,138		194,697
Deferred:
Federal		12,013		49,125		(81,551	)
State		1,144		8,582		(1,088	)
		13,157		57,707		(82,639	)
Total provision for income taxes	$	208,431	$	209,845	$	112,058

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act reduced the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% and made several other changes to long-held tax rules. An income tax benefit of $104.9 million was recorded in our provision for income taxes in the year ended December 31, 2017 to reflect the estimated impact of the Tax Act on our net deferred tax liabilities. In 2018, we completed our accounting for the effects of the Tax Act and no material changes in our initial estimate were required.

The following is a reconciliation of income tax expense calculated using the U.S. statutory federal income tax rate with our income tax expense for 2019, 2018 and 2017:

	Year Ended December 31,
(In thousands)	2019			2018		2017
Tax provision at statutory rate	$	173,029		$	171,258	$	201,541
State income taxes, net of federal benefit		35,507			36,396		20,277
Revaluation of deferred taxes in connection with the Tax Act		—			—		(104,864	)
Other, net		(105	)		2,191		(4,896	)
Total provision for income taxes	$	208,431		$	209,845	$	112,058

Deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included in “Other assets” and “Deferred income taxes” on our Balance Sheets, consist of the following:

	December 31,
(In thousands)	2019			2018
Deferred tax assets:
Claims and insurance reserves	$	28,390		$	27,433
Accrued vacation		17,642			17,932
Deferred compensation		42,417			31,306
Other		11,843			20,861
Total deferred tax assets		100,292			97,532

Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation and amortization		(354,762	)		(339,311	)
Unrecognized revenue		—			—
Other		(3,617	)		(3,151	)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(358,379	)		(342,462	)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(258,087	)	$	(244,930	)

We are subject to U.S. federal income tax, as well as income tax of multiple state tax jurisdictions. We remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for tax years 2016 through 2019. We also remain open to examination by various state tax jurisdictions for tax years 2015 through 2019.

The Company’s liability for unrecognized tax benefits was immaterial as of December 31, 2019 and 2018. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions, which are immaterial, are recorded in our “Provision for income taxes” on our Statements of Operations. Changes in our liability for unrecognized tax benefits could affect our effective tax rate, if recognized, but we do not expect any material changes within the next twelve months.