Income Taxes

Components of the income tax expense (benefit) are as follows (in thousands):



	Year ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	21,468		$	15,225		$	12,072
State	684			3,322			1,450
Foreign	1,627			1,432			891
Total current	23,779			19,979			14,413
Deferred:
Federal	2,573			1,336			(18,836		)
State	(1,071		)	(543		)	90
Total deferred	1,502			793			(18,746		)
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	25,281		$	20,772		$	(4,333	)

A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory tax rate to the effective income tax rate is as follows:



	Year ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
Federal statutory tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	2.3		2.8		2.3
Return to accrual adjustments	(0.9	)	0.2		(1.3	)
Change in valuation allowance	—		—		(41.0	)
Warrant liability fair value adjustment	—		—		(2.0	)
Domestic production activities deduction	(2.5	)	(2.6	)	(3.0	)
Other	(1.9	)	1.1		0.5
Effective income tax rate	32.0	%	36.5	%	(9.5	)%

Fluctuations in effective tax rates have historically been impacted by permanent tax differences with no associated income tax impact and existing deferred tax asset valuation allowances. The change in the effective tax rate in 2014 resulted primarily from changes in state apportionment factors, including the effect on state deferred tax assets and liabilities.

Deferred income taxes reflect the tax effect of temporary differences between the carrying value of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the value reported for income tax purposes, at the enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when the differences reverse. The components of deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Net operating loss carryforwards	$	10,183		$	11,665
Allowance for doubtful accounts	369			383
Inventory valuation reserves	1,896			1,503
Equity compensation	4,146			3,693
Accrued compensation	75			598
Other	1			1
Total gross deferred tax assets	16,670			17,843
Valuation allowance	(809		)	(856		)
Total deferred tax assets, net	15,861			16,987
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	(12,066		)	(12,374		)
Intangible assets and goodwill	(9,823		)	(9,587		)
Convertible debt	(4,126		)	(5,020		)
Prepaid insurance and other	(225		)	(47		)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities	(26,240		)	(27,028		)
Net deferred tax (liabilities) assets	$	(10,379	)	$	(10,041	)

Deferred taxes are presented in the balance sheets as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2014			2013
Current deferred tax assets	$	2,696		$	2,522
Non-current deferred tax assets	12,907			15,012
Non-current deferred tax liabilities	(25,982		)	(27,575		)
Net deferred tax (liabilities) assets	$	(10,379	)	$	(10,041	)

During the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company recorded a final adjustment related to the acquisition of Florida Chemical that increased current deferred tax assets by $1.2 million (see Note 3).

As of December 31, 2014, the Company had U.S. net operating loss carryforwards of $26.3 million, expiring in various amounts in 2028 through 2030. The ability to utilize net operating losses and other tax attributes could be subject to a significant limitation if the Company were to undergo an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 of the Tax Code.

The Company’s corporate organizational structure requires the filing of two separate consolidated U.S. Federal income tax returns. Taxable income of one group ("Group A") cannot be offset by tax attributes, including net operating losses of the other group ("Group B"). The Company considers all available evidence, both positive and negative, to determine whether a valuation allowance is necessary. The Company considers cumulative losses in recent years as significant negative evidence. The Company considers recent years to mean the current year plus the two preceding years.

Prior to December 31, 2012, the Company did not have sufficient positive evidence to overcome the existence of a cumulative loss in Group B and thus, prior to December 31, 2012, maintained a full valuation allowance against deferred tax assets of that group. As of December 31, 2012, Group B was no longer in a cumulative loss position. Accordingly, the Company considered the objectively verifiable positive evidence for projecting future income, which included primarily determining the average of the pre-tax income of the current and prior two years after adjusting for certain items not indicative of future performance. Based on this analysis, the Company determined a valuation allowance was no longer necessary for the group's U.S. federal deferred tax assets. Accordingly, the Company decreased its valuation allowance by $16.5 million at December 31, 2012 and recognized a reduction of deferred federal income tax expense. As Group B continues to be in a cumulative loss position as of December 31, 2014 in certain state jurisdictions, the Company has determined that a valuation allowance of $0.8 million is required for deferred tax assets.

The Company has not calculated U.S. taxes on unremitted earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries due to the Company’s intent to reinvest the unremitted earnings of the non-U.S. subsidiaries. At December 31, 2014, the Company had approximately $2.9 million in unremitted earnings outside the U.S. which were not included for U.S. tax purposes. U.S. income tax liability would be incurred if these funds were remitted to the U.S. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of the deferred tax liability on such unremitted earnings.

The Company has performed an evaluation and concluded that there are no significant uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements. The evaluation was performed for the tax years which remain subject to examination by tax jurisdictions as of December 31, 2014 which are the years ended December 31, 2011 through December 31, 2014 for U.S. federal taxes and the years ended December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2014 for state tax jurisdictions.

The Company’s policy is to record penalties and interest related to income tax matters as income tax expense.