Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2021

Schedule of Income (Loss) 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):

	2021		2020			2019
United States	$	195,037	$	(5,649	)	$	69,476
Foreign		12,952		3,710			6,764
Total	$	207,989	$	(1,939	)	$	76,240

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):

		2021		2020			2019
Current:
Federal	$	27,244		$	(15,778	)	$	2,690
State		3,811			329			315
Foreign		(4	)		519			52
Total current tax expense (benefit)		31,051			(14,930	)		3,057
Deferred:
Federal		6,939			12,292			12,930
State		(547	)		1,338			794
Foreign		492			1,466			889
Total deferred tax expense		6,884			15,096			14,613
Total income tax expense	$	37,935		$	166		$	17,670

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:

	2021		2020		2019
Federal statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%		21.0	%
State taxes, net of credits	1.4		(57.9	)		1.2
Foreign income taxed at different rates	(0.5	)	(11.6	)		(0.2	)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	(1.0	)	(24.5	)		(0.2	)
Federal rate change	0.4		71.9			—
Non-deductible officers’ compensation	1.2		(46.9	)		1.8
Other non-deductible expenses	0.4		(66.0	)		1.0
Noncontrolling interests	(0.5	)	21.1			(0.5	)
Research and development credits	(1.5	)	99.3			(0.5	)
Tax return to provision adjustment	—		89.2			0.5
Unrecognized tax benefits	0.9		(97.3	)		0.7
Interest income	(0.1	)	9.0			(0.4	)
Excess tax benefit from stock-based compensation	(0.2	)	3.0			(1.2	)
Foreign derived intangible income	(2.5	)	—			—
Other	(0.8	)	(18.9	)		—
Effective tax rate	18.2	%	(8.6	)%		23.2	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

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

		2021			2020
Deferred tax assets:
Operating lease liabilities	$	20,645		$	22,676
Amortizable goodwill and other intangibles		13,490			17,455
Employee benefit accruals		14,007			9,246
Net operating loss carryforwards		7,642			8,484
Environmental liabilities		10,508			7,938
Other contingencies⁽¹⁾		5,044			4,133
State credit carryforwards		7,216			7,933
Federal credit carryforwards	—				5,116
Inventory valuation methods		2,129			2,865
Other		2,459			2,941
Valuation allowances		(14,522	)		(16,933	)
Total deferred tax assets		68,618			71,854
Deferred tax liabilities:
Accelerated depreciation and other basis differences		43,304			39,596
Operating lease right-of-use assets		19,895			21,104
Investment in operating partnerships		12,410			14,703
Uncertain tax positions	—				4,936
Prepaid expense acceleration and other		6,041			2,655
Total deferred tax liabilities		81,650			82,994
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(13,032	)	$	(11,140	)

Summary of Reserve for Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Excluding Interest and Penalties

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):

		2021			2020		2019
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the beginning of the year	$	7,456		$	5,410		$	5,054
(Reductions) additions for tax positions of prior years		(574	)		1,368			(151	)
Additions for tax positions of the current year		1,486			852			507
Reductions for lapse of statutes		(48	)		(174	)		—
Unrecognized tax benefits, as of the end of the year	$	8,320		$	7,456		$	5,410