Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

7. Income Taxes

Income tax benefit/expense reported in the Corporation's consolidated statements of earnings includes income tax benefit/expense on earnings attributable to both the Corporation and its noncontrolling interests.

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2011	2010
Estimated effective income tax rate:
Continuing operations	22.7%	24.2%
Discontinued operations	38.8%	8.2%
Consolidated overall	22.8%	24.2%

The Corporation's effective income tax rate reflects the effect of federal and state income taxes and the impact of differences in book and tax accounting arising from the net permanent benefits associated with the depletion allowances for mineral reserves and the domestic production deduction. The effective income tax rates for discontinued operations reflect the tax effects of individual operations' transactions and are not indicative of the Corporation's overall effective income tax rate.

The change in the year-to-date consolidated overall estimated effective income tax rate during the third quarter of 2011, when compared with the year-to-date consolidated overall estimated effective tax rate as of June 30, 2011, increased consolidated net earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 by $3,636,000, or $0.08 per diluted share. The consolidated overall estimated effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 included the following discrete events: the favorable effective settlement of the Internal Revenue Service audit for the 2008 tax year, resolution of a federal tax and interest overpayment related to the 2006 tax year and an agreed-upon refund for the double taxation of the Corporation's wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary for the 2001 and 2002 tax years.

The change in the year-to-date consolidated overall estimated effective income tax rate during the third quarter of 2010, when compared with the year-to-date consolidated overall estimated effective tax rate as of June 30, 2010, increased consolidated net earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 by $5,724,000, or $0.13 per diluted share. The overall estimated effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2010 included the effective settlement of issues related to the 2004 and 2005 tax years, the effective settlement of the Internal Revenue Service audit for the 2007 tax year, the expiration of the statute of limitations for federal examination of the 2006 tax year, the provision of a valuation allowance for unused tax credits, and the true-up of the 2009 provision estimates to actual taxes paid as a result of filing the related tax returns during the period.