Income Taxes

Income (loss) before income taxes by geographic area is as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2013		2012		2011
Domestic	$	260,364	$	77,254	$	168,804
Foreign^(a)	32,165		23,573		11,003
	$	292,529	$	100,827	$	179,807


(a)	Inclusive of income (loss) before income taxes from Australia and Puerto Rico.

The benefit (provision) for income taxes consists of the following:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
Current:
Federal	$	684		$	229		$	3,213
Foreign	(6,732		)	(6,837		)	(3,377		)
State	(12,305		)	(3,705		)	(3,557		)
Total current	(18,353		)	(10,313		)	(3,721		)
Deferred:
Federal	(164,769		)	65,643			1,054
Foreign	(6,136		)	42,714			(694		)
State	(9,370		)	2,017			(4,986		)
Total deferred	(180,275		)	110,374			(4,626		)
Total tax benefit (provision)	$	(198,628	)	$	100,061		$	(8,347	)

A reconciliation between the benefit (provision) for income taxes and the amount computed by applying the federal statutory income tax rate to the loss before income taxes is as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
Benefit (provision) for income taxes at statutory rate	$	(102,385	)	$	(35,289	)	$	(62,932	)
Tax effect of foreign income (losses)	11,258			8,251			3,851
Tax adjustment related to the REIT election^(a)	(67,395		)	—			—
Expenses for which no federal tax benefit was recognized	(9,570		)	(3,874		)	(5,433		)
Valuation allowances	—			95,072			61,921
State tax (provision) benefit, net of federal	(14,852		)	(1,097		)	(4,565		)
Foreign tax	(12,868		)	35,877			(4,071		)
Other	(2,816		)	1,121			2,882
	$	(198,628	)	$	100,061		$	(8,347	)


(a)	Inclusive of a $39.8 million adjustment to reclassify a deferred tax charge from AOCI to the provision for income taxes.

The components of the net deferred income tax assets and liabilities are as follows:



	December 31,
	2013			2012
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment	$	135,824		$	1,246,899
Deferred site rental receivable	28,074			340,113
Intangible assets	116,548			894,800
Total deferred income tax liabilities	280,446			2,481,812
Deferred income tax assets:
Net operating loss carryforwards	134,123			950,195
Deferred ground lease payable	7,122			121,752
Alternate minimum tax credit carryforward	—			3,566
Accrued liabilities	148,580			190,121
Receivables allowance	1,228			4,140
Prepaid lease	—			1,358,430
Derivative instruments	—			51,380
Capital loss carryforwards	—			29,402
Other	5,866			5,270
Valuation allowances	(27,264		)	(70,940		)
Total deferred income tax assets, net	269,655			2,643,316
Net deferred income tax asset (liabilities)	$	(10,791	)	$	161,504

During the fourth quarter of 2013, the Company completed the steps necessary to qualify to operate as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and received final approval from the Company's board of directors. See note 20. As a result, the Company de-recognized the net deferred tax assets and liabilities related to the entities included in the REIT, which resulted in net non-cash income tax charge of $67.4 million in conjunction with the anticipated REIT conversion. Included in the REIT conversion charge of $67.4 million is a $39.8 million adjustment to reclassify a deferred tax charge from AOCI to the provision for income taxes.

During 2013, in connection with completing the steps necessary to qualify to operate as a REIT, the Company reversed $29.4 million of valuation allowance associated with capital loss carryforwards as the Company generated sufficient capital gains in 2013 to fully realize these capital loss carryforwards. Also, during 2013, the Company recorded a valuation allowance of $12.0 million against federal net operating loss carryforwards of its TRSs as the Company has determined that a portion of its TRSs federal net operating loss carryforwards more likely than not will not be realized.

As a REIT, the Company will generally be entitled to a deduction for dividends that it pays and therefore will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on its net taxable income that is currently distributed to its stockholders. The Company also may be subject to certain federal, state, local, and foreign taxes on its income and assets, including (1) alternative minimum taxes, (2) taxes on any undistributed income, (3) taxes related to the TRS, (4) certain state, local, or foreign income taxes, (5) franchise taxes, (6) property taxes, and (7) transfer taxes. In addition, the Company could in certain circumstances be required to pay an excise or penalty tax, which could be significant in amount, in order to utilize one or more relief provisions under the Code to maintain qualification for taxation as a REIT. The Company's small cell operations will initially be conducted through one or more wholly-owned TRSs. The Company has submitted a private letter ruling request with the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") regarding whether certain components of its small cell business and the related rents qualify as real property under Code Section 856 and thus can be included in our REIT. Additionally, the Company will include in TRSs its tower operations in Australia and may include certain other assets and operations in TRSs. Those TRS assets and operations would continue to be subject, as applicable, to federal and state corporate income taxes and to foreign taxes in the jurisdictions in which such assets and operations are located. The Company's foreign assets and operations (including its tower operations in Puerto Rico and Australia) most likely will be subject to foreign income taxes in the jurisdictions in which such assets and operations are located, regardless of whether they are included in a TRS or not. The Company will be subject to a federal corporate level tax rate (currently 35%) on the gain recognized from the sale of assets occurring within a specified period (generally 10 years) after the REIT conversion up to the amount of the built in gain that existed on January 1, 2014, which is based upon the fair market value of those assets in excess of our tax basis on January 1, 2014. This gain can be offset for any remaining federal net operating loss carryforwards.

During 2012, the Company recorded $100.5 million of net U.S. federal deferred tax assets and $19.7 million of net state deferred tax liabilities in connection with the 2012 Acquisitions. Also, during 2012, the Company reversed a total of $95.1 million of federal and $20.1 million of state valuation allowances to benefit (provision) for income taxes resulting from (1) the NextG Acquisition and (2) the determination that the Company is more likely than not to realize these deferred tax assets as a result of the Company's recent historical trends of earnings and anticipated future earnings. In addition, during 2012, the Company reversed the remaining valuation allowance of $51.1 million on its foreign deferred tax assets relating to its Australian subsidiaries to benefit (provision) for income taxes. This reversal results from the determination that the Company is more likely than not to realize these deferred assets as a result of the Australian subsidiaries increased profitability and anticipated future earnings.

The components of the net deferred income tax assets (liabilities) are as follows:



	December 31, 2013									December 31, 2012
Classification	Gross			Valuation Allowance			Net			Gross		Valuation Allowance			Net
Federal	$	(7,513	)	$	(12,000	)	$	(19,513	)	$	104,213	$	(29,402	)	$	74,811
State	(807		)	(14,547		)	(15,354		)	35,474		(41,538		)	(6,064		)
Foreign	24,793			(717		)	24,076			41,377		—			41,377
Other comprehensive income (loss)	—			—			—			51,380		—			51,380
Total	$	16,473		$	(27,264	)	$	(10,791	)	$	232,444	$	(70,940	)	$	161,504

At December 31, 2013, the Company had U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $2.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, which are available to offset future taxable income. These amounts include $0.2 billion of losses related to stock-based compensation. The Company also had foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $0.1 billion. If not utilized, the Company's U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards expire starting in 2021 and ending in 2032, and the state net operating carryforwards expire starting in 2013 and ending in 2033. The foreign net operating loss carryforwards predominately remain available indefinitely provided certain continuity of business requirements is met. The utilization of the loss carryforwards is subject to certain limitations. The Company's U.S. federal and state income tax returns generally remain open to examination by taxing authorities until three years after the applicable loss carryforwards have been used or expired. The remaining valuation allowance relates to federal net operating loss carryforwards and certain state net deferred tax assets (primarily net operating loss carryforwards).

As of December 31, 2013, the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that would impact the effective tax rate, if recognized, was $21.5 million. The aggregate changes in the balance of unrecognized tax benefits are as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2013		2012
Balance at beginning of year	$	19,184	$	8,376
Additions based on current year tax positions	2,365		10,808
Balance at end of year	$	21,549	$	19,184

From time to time, the Company is subject to examinations by various tax authorities in jurisdictions in which the Company has business operations. The Company regularly assesses the likelihood of additional assessments in each of the tax jurisdictions resulting from these examinations. At this time, the Company is not subject to an IRS examination.