Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2014

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes was as follows for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2014			2013			2012
United States	$	10,796		$	(196,289	)	$	54,304
Foreign	(61		)	(141,160		)	(11,348		)
Total	$	10,735		$	(337,449	)	$	42,956

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations consisted of the following for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2014			2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	5,927		$	556		$	5,267
State	229			356			453
Foreign	177			764			(2		)
Total current tax expense (benefit)	$	6,333		$	1,676		$	5,718
Deferred:
Federal	$	(4,911	)	$	(58,194	)	$	13,166
State	880			(264		)	(2,748		)
Foreign	(301		)	(644		)	(2,097		)
Total deferred tax expense (benefit)	(4,332		)	(59,102		)	8,321
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	2,001		$	(57,426	)	$	14,039

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the difference between the federal statutory rate and the Company’s effective tax rate for the years ended August 31 is as follows:



	2014		2013		2012
Federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of credits	(7.1	)	1.2		(5.7	)
Foreign income taxed at different rates	(8.1	)	(3.5	)	4.2
Section 199 deduction	(6.9	)	0.5		(0.3	)
Non-deductible officers’ compensation	2.7		(0.1	)	1.5
Noncontrolling interests	(12.1	)	0.2		(2.2	)
Research and development credits	(1.0	)	0.2		(2.0	)
Fixed asset tax basis adjustment	(21.3	)	—		—
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	21.8		(8.6	)	—
Unrecognized tax benefits	18.0		—		—
Non-deductible goodwill	—		(7.1	)	—
Foreign interest income	—		—		0.7
Other	(2.4	)	(0.8	)	1.5
Effective tax rate	18.6	%	17.0	%	32.7	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Deferred tax assets and liabilities were comprised of the following as of August 31 (in thousands):



	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Environmental liabilities	$	11,975		$	12,390
Employee benefit accruals	14,983			9,378
State income tax and other	3,096			2,478
Net operating loss carryforwards	11,357			11,758
State credit carryforwards	5,567			5,360
Inventory valuation methods	242			1,390
Amortizable goodwill and other intangibles	34,102			38,820
Valuation allowances	(32,086		)	(29,696		)
Total deferred tax assets	$	49,236		$	51,878
Deferred tax liabilities:
Accelerated depreciation and other basis differences	$	62,774		$	68,609
Prepaid expense acceleration	2,250			2,418
Foreign currency translation adjustment	93			30
Total deferred tax liabilities	65,117			71,057
Net deferred tax liability	$	15,881		$	19,179

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies

The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s reserve for unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the years ended August 31 (in thousands):



	2014		2013			2012
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the beginning of the year	$	526	$	491		$	303
Additions for tax positions of prior years	1		—			—
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	—		(31		)	(143		)
Additions for tax positions of the current year	2,253		66			331
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the end of the year	$	2,780	$	526		$	491