INCOME TAXES

Income Before Income Taxes

The consolidated income before income taxes for 2018, 2017, and 2016 consists of the following (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Domestic	$	94,978	$	121,897	$	185,042
Foreign	1,026		641		375
Total income before income taxes	$	96,004	$	122,538	$	185,417

Income Tax Expense

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“the Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017, and, among other changes, reduced the federal statutory tax rate from 35.0% to 21.0%. In accordance with U.S. GAAP for income taxes, as well as SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”), the Company made reasonable estimates of the impact of the Act and recorded these estimates in its results for the year ended December 31, 2017. SAB 118 allowed for a measurement period of up to one year, from the date of enactment, to complete the Company’s accounting for the impact of the Act. During the provisional period prescribed by SAB 118, the Company reversed $1.3 million of deferred tax assets with regards to incentive compensation for executives whose compensation is subject to the updated Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) limitation amounts.

The Act also included a provision that functions as a global minimum tax referred to as Global Intangible Low-taxed Income (“GILTI”) that applies to certain income generated by Controlled Foreign Corporations (“CFC”). U.S. shareholders are required to include on a current basis the aggregate amount of certain income generated by its CFC, regardless of repatriation. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company calculated the tax, but the impact on the financial statements is not material.

The consolidated income tax expense for 2018, 2017 and 2016 consists of the following components (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Current
Federal	$	22,120		$	21,316		$	51,489
State	7,271			4,327			10,307
Foreign	168			155			144
	29,559			25,798			61,940
Deferred
Federal	(1,613		)	(16,065		)	3,448
State	(1,312		)	1,459			686
Foreign	(51		)	(76		)	(90		)
	(2,976		)	(14,682		)	4,044
Total consolidated expense	$	26,583		$	11,116		$	65,984

The following table provides a reconciliation of differences from the U.S. Federal statutory rates as follows (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Pretax book income	$	96,004		$	122,538		$	185,417

Federal tax expense at applicable statutory rate	20,161			42,888			64,896
State and local income taxes (net of federal benefit)	4,737			5,047			7,145
Benefit of domestic production deduction	—			(3,450		)	(5,065		)
Change in income tax reserves	—			(11,925		)	862
Remeasurement of deferred taxes	(421		)	(19,796		)	—
Nondeductible officer compensation	1,152			—			163
Stock based compensation expense	(1,009		)	(1,943		)	(225		)
Other	1,963			295			(1,792		)
Total income tax expense	$	26,583		$	11,116		$	65,984

Deferred Taxes

The Company’s deferred income taxes are primarily due to temporary differences between financial and income tax reporting for incentive compensation, depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortization of intangibles, and other accrued liabilities.

Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Companies are required to assess whether valuation allowances should be established against their deferred tax assets based on the consideration of all available evidence, both positive and negative, using a “more likely than not” standard. In making such judgments, significant weight is given to evidence that can be objectively verified.

The Company assesses, on a quarterly basis, the realizability of its deferred tax assets by evaluating all available evidence, both positive and negative, including: (1) the cumulative results of operations in recent years, (2) the nature of recent losses, if applicable, (3) estimates of future taxable income, (4) the length of net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) and (5) the uncertainty associated with a possible change in ownership, which imposes an annual limitation on the use of these carryforwards.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company retained a valuation allowance of $0.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively, against deferred tax assets related to various state and local NOLs that are subject to restrictive rules for future utilization.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had no U.S. federal tax NOLs. The Company had various multistate income tax NOLs aggregating approximately $48.0 million which will expire between 2019 and 2029, if unused.

The components of deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2018			2017
Deferred tax assets
Tax credits and loss carryforwards	$	657		$	1,710
Accrued liabilities	7,285			6,629
Incentive compensation	12,132			13,867
Other	6,747			2,852
	26,821			25,058
Deferred tax liabilities
Property, plant and equipment	(14,695		)	(12,813		)
Intangibles	(42,343		)	(45,960		)
Other	(3,841		)	(2,003		)
	(60,879		)	(60,776		)
Net deferred tax asset before valuation allowances and reserves	(34,058		)	(35,718		)
Valuation allowances	(847		)	(1,237		)
Net deferred tax asset or liability	$	(34,905	)	$	(36,955	)

Tax Reserves

The Company’s policy with respect to interest and penalties associated with reserves or allowances for uncertain tax positions is to classify such interest and penalties in Income Tax Expense on the Consolidated Statement of Operations. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the total amount of unrecognized income tax benefits was approximately $1.8 million and$0.8 million, respectively, all of which, if recognized, would impact the effective income tax rate of the Company. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had recorded a total of $0.6 and $0.3 million, respectively, of accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions. The Company foresees no significant changes to the facts and circumstances underlying its reserves and allowances for uncertain income tax positions as reasonably possible during the next 12 months. As of December 31, 2018, the Company is subject to unexpired statutes of limitation for U.S. federal income taxes for the years 2015 through 2017. The Company is also subject to unexpired statutes of limitation for Indiana state income taxes for the years 2015 through 2017.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits was as follows (in thousands) and all balances as of December 31, 2018 were included in either Other Noncurrent Liabilities or Deferred Income Taxes in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet:



	Unrecognized Tax Benefits
Balance at January 1, 2017	$	10,625
Decrease in prior year tax positions	(10,130		)
Balance at December 31, 2017	495
Increase in prior year tax positions	682
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	1,177