Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

May. 02, 2015

Income (Loss) Before Income Taxes

Income (loss) before income taxes for fiscal 2015, fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 are as follows:

	Fiscal 2015		Fiscal 2014		Fiscal 2013
Domestic operations	$	111,302		3,952		(257,173	)
Foreign operations		3,981		733		1,824
Total income (loss) before taxes	$	115,283		4,685		(255,349	)

Income Tax Provisions (Benefits)

Income tax provisions (benefits) for fiscal 2015, fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 are as follows:

	Fiscal 2015			Fiscal 2014		Fiscal 2013
Current:
Federal	$	81,107			5,753		18,270
State		8,844			2,819		2,594
Foreign		1,314			156		486
Total current		91,265			8,728		21,350
Deferred:
Federal		(41	)		30,792		(93,684	)
State		(12,581	)		12,433		(25,209	)
Foreign		44			—		—
Total deferred		(12,578	)		43,225		(118,893	)
Total	$	78,687			51,953		(97,543	)

Reconciliation Between Effective Income Tax Rate and Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate

Reconciliation between the effective income tax rate and the federal statutory income tax rate is as follows:

	Fiscal 2015			Fiscal 2014			Fiscal 2013
Federal statutory income tax rate		35.0	%		35.0	%		35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		9.5			156.8			3.9
Changes to unrecognized tax benefits		0.1			42.5			(5.7	)
Excess executive compensation		2.4			14.0			(1.8	)
Meals and entertainment disallowance		0.7			16.0			(0.2	)
Research Tax Credits		(2.4	)		(63.4	)		7.4
Joint venture net loss allocation		32.0			657.8			—
Change in valuation allowance		(11.3	)		248.5			—
Other, net		2.3			1.7			(0.4	)
Effective income tax rate		68.3	%		1,108.9	%		38.2	%

Components of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

At May 2, 2015 and May 3, 2014, the significant components of the Company’s deferred taxes consisted of the following:

	May 2, 2015			May 3, 2014
Deferred tax assets:
Estimated accrued liabilities	$	131,347		$	124,875
Inventory		28,437			42,671
Insurance liability		9,149			8,804
Loss and credit carryovers		28,735			47,308
Lease transactions		25,292			24,499
Pension		6,175			4,885
Stock-based compensation		4,565			6,364
Investments in equity securities		39			1,564
Depreciation		4,501			—
Other		809			1,263
Gross deferred tax assets		239,049			262,233
Valuation allowance		(1,215	)		(19,176	)
Net deferred tax assets		237,834			243,057
Deferred tax liabilities:
Prepaid expenses		(6,777	)		(6,900	)
Goodwill and intangible asset amortization		(210,249	)		(209,541	)
Investment in Barnes & Noble.com		(78,526	)		(78,554	)
Depreciation		—			(15,257	)
Gross deferred tax liabilities		(295,552	)		(310,252	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(57,718	)	$	(67,195	)

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Amount of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for fiscal 2015, fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 is as follows:

Balance at April 28, 2012	$	13,135
Additions for tax positions of the current period		3,189
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		9,187
Reductions due to settlements		(370	)
Other reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(3,815	)
Balance at April 27, 2013	$	21,326
Additions for tax positions of the current period		2,693
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		2,206
Reductions due to settlements		—
Other reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(7,070	)
Balance at May 3, 2014	$	19,155
Additions for tax positions of the current period		731
Additions for tax positions of prior periods		—
Reductions due to settlements		—
Other reductions for tax positions of prior periods		(1,504	)
Balance at May 2, 2015	$	18,382