Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2015

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):



	2015			2014		2013
United States	$	(113,084	)	$	12,286	$	(194,816	)
Foreign	(87,380		)	2,696		(137,908		)
Total	$	(200,464	)	$	14,982	$	(332,724	)

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):



	2015			2014			2013
Current:
Federal	$	(11,275	)	$	6,508		$	556
State	(84		)	229			356
Foreign	732			177			764
Total current tax expense (benefit)	$	(10,627	)	$	6,914		$	1,676
Deferred:
Federal	$	(4,752	)	$	(4,911	)	$	(57,733	)
State	2,805			880			(242		)
Foreign	(41		)	(301		)	(644		)
Total deferred tax expense (benefit)	(1,988		)	(4,332		)	(58,619		)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	(12,615	)	$	2,582		$	(56,943	)

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:



	2015		2014		2013
Federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of credits	1.1		(2.5	)	1.2
Foreign income taxed at different rates	(7.7	)	(8.6	)	(3.5	)
Section 199 deduction	—		(5.3	)	0.5
Non-deductible officers’ compensation	(0.1	)	2.0		(0.1	)
Noncontrolling interests	0.3		(8.7	)	0.2
Research and development credits	0.3		(0.8	)	0.2
Fixed asset tax basis adjustment	—		(15.3	)	—
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	(25.2	)	10.2		(8.4	)
Unrecognized tax benefits	(0.6	)	12.9		—
Non-deductible goodwill	(2.5	)	—		(7.1	)
Realized foreign investment basis	6.3		—		—
Other	(0.6	)	(1.7	)	(0.9	)
Effective tax rate	6.3	%	17.2	%	17.1	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

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



	2015			2014
Deferred tax assets:
Environmental liabilities	$	11,623		$	11,864
Employee benefit accruals	13,471			14,977
State income tax and other	4,601			3,119
Net operating loss carryforwards	20,485			10,692
State credit carryforwards	5,935			5,567
Inventory valuation methods	975			242
Amortizable goodwill and other intangibles	51,459			32,545
Valuation allowances	(78,304		)	(30,265		)
Total deferred tax assets	$	30,245		$	48,741
Deferred tax liabilities:
Accelerated depreciation and other basis differences	$	44,131		$	62,372
Prepaid expense acceleration	2,460			2,250
Total deferred tax liabilities	46,591			64,622
Net deferred tax liability	$	16,346		$	15,881

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):



	2015			2014		2013
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the beginning of the year	$	2,780		$	526	$	491
Additions for tax positions of prior years	—			1		—
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	—			—		(31		)
Additions for tax positions of the current year	1,571			2,253		66
Settlements with tax authorities	(381		)	—		—
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the end of the year	$	3,970		$	2,780	$	526