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Income taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of provision for income taxes by tax jurisdiction

The following table presents our income tax (benefit) expense by tax jurisdiction for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

			Year Ended December 31,
			2020						2019						2018
Deferred tax expense (benefit)
Ireland			$	(31,387)					$	154,134					$	140,621
United States			6,180						11,327						6,510
The Netherlands			572						7,316						4,136
Other			(1,279)						7,658						8,881
			(25,914)						180,435						160,148
Deferred tax (benefit) expense related to a (decrease) increase in changes in valuation allowance of deferred tax assets
Ireland			1,882						2,358						368
United States			12,085						(18,425)						(2,838)
The Netherlands			(11,746)						87						(2,302)
Other			2,811						(1,957)						(7,788)
			5,032						(17,937)						(12,560)
Current tax (benefit) expense
Ireland			—						—						(27)
United States			3,016						789						(3,691)
The Netherlands			(314)						261						(307)
Other			949						4,166						516
			3,651						5,216						(3,509)
Income tax (benefit) expense			$	(17,231)					$	167,714					$	144,079

Schedule of reconciliation of statutory of income tax expense to provision for income taxes

The following table provides a reconciliation of the income tax (benefit) expense at statutory income tax rate to income tax (benefit) expense for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

			Year Ended December 31,
			2020						2019						2018
Income tax (benefit) expense at statutory income tax rate of 12.5%			$	(39,327)					$	167,580					$	143,866
Permanent differences			22,486			(a)			(949)			(b)			1,016			(c)
Foreign rate differential			(390)						1,083						(803)
			22,096						134						213
Income tax (benefit) expense			$	(17,231)					$	167,714					$	144,079

(a)The 2020 permanent differences included non-deductible goodwill impairment, non-deductible interest, non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

(b)The 2019 permanent differences included non-deductible interest, non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland and in the Netherlands, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

(c)The 2018 permanent differences included non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland and in the Netherlands, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

Schedule of foreign rate differential by tax jurisdiction

The following tables present our foreign rate differential by tax jurisdiction for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

			Year Ended December 31, 2020
			Pre-tax income (loss)						Local statutory tax rate (a)						Variance to Irish statutory tax rate of 12.5%						Tax variance as a result of global activities (b)
Tax jurisdiction
Ireland			$	(160,739)					12.5		%				—						$	—
United States			101,339						21.0		%				8.5		%				8,614
The Netherlands			(45,954)						25.0		%				12.5		%				(5,744)
Other			(29,378)						23.6		%				11.1		%				(3,260)
Taxable loss			$	(134,732)																	$	(390)
Permanent differences (c)			(179,886)
Loss from continuing operations before income tax			$	(314,618)

			Year Ended December 31, 2019
			Pre-tax income (loss)						Local statutory tax rate (a)						Variance to Irish statutory tax rate of 12.5%						Tax variance as a result of global activities (b)
Tax jurisdiction
Ireland			$	1,324,100					12.5		%				—						$	—
United States			(30,041)						21.0		%				8.5		%				(2,553)
The Netherlands			30,656						25.0		%				12.5		%				3,832
Other			8,331						10.1		%				(2.4		%)				(196)
Taxable income			$	1,333,046																	$	1,083
Permanent differences (d)			7,596
Income from continuing operations before income tax			$	1,340,642

14. Income taxes (Continued)

			Year Ended December 31, 2018
			Pre-tax income (loss)						Local statutory tax rate (a)						Variance to Irish statutory tax rate of 12.5%						Tax variance as a result of global activities (b)
Tax jurisdiction
Ireland			$	1,163,574					12.5		%				—						$	—
United States			(85)						22.0		%				9.5		%				(8)
The Netherlands			6,108						25.0		%				12.5		%				764
Other			(10,977)						26.7		%				14.2		%				(1,559)
Taxable income			$	1,158,620																	$	(803)
Permanent differences (e)			(7,687)
Income from continuing operations before income tax			$	1,150,933

(a)The local statutory income tax expense for our significant tax jurisdictions (Ireland, the United States and the Netherlands) does not differ from the actual income tax expense.

(b)The tax variance as a result of global activities is primarily caused by our operations in countries with a higher or lower statutory tax rate than the statutory tax rate in Ireland.

(c)The 2020 permanent differences included non-deductible goodwill impairment, non-deductible interest, non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

(d)The 2019 permanent differences included non-deductible interest, non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland and in the Netherlands, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

(e)The 2018 permanent differences included non-deductible share-based compensation in Ireland and in the Netherlands, and a valuation allowance change in respect of U.S., Dutch and Irish tax losses.

Schedule of principal components of deferred tax assets and liabilities

The following tables provide details regarding the principal components of our deferred income tax liabilities and assets by jurisdiction as of December 31, 2020 and 2019:

			As of December 31, 2020
			Ireland						United States						The Netherlands						Other						Total
Depreciation/Impairment			$	(2,154,075)					$	(14,014)					$	12,510					$	(1,440)					$	(2,157,019)
Intangibles			(3,560)						(3,986)						—						—						(7,546)
Accrued maintenance liability			(1,985)						410						—						—						(1,575)
Obligations under capital leases and debt obligations			(3,343)						—						—						—						(3,343)
Investments			—						(7,836)						—						—						(7,836)
Deferred losses on sale of assets			—						20,534						—						—						20,534
Valuation allowance			(7,536)						(50,805)						(4,278)						(16,774)						(79,393)
Losses and credits forward			1,410,570						67,697						12,359						16,052						1,506,678
Other			(52,443)						1,002						356						(1,314)						(52,399)
Net deferred income tax (liabilities) assets			$	(812,372)					$	13,002					$	20,947					$	(3,476)					$	(781,899)

14. Income taxes (Continued)

			As of December 31, 2019
			Ireland						United States						The Netherlands						Other						Total
Depreciation/Impairment			$	(1,924,492)					$	(606)					$	6,873					$	(1,253)					$	(1,919,478)
Intangibles			(4,594)						(5,222)						—						—						(9,816)
Accrued maintenance liability			(3,456)						1,666						—						—						(1,790)
Obligations under capital leases and debt obligations			(3,806)						—						—						—						(3,806)
Investments			—						(7,996)						—						—						(7,996)
Deferred losses on sale of assets			—						24,178						—						—						24,178
Valuation allowance			(5,654)						(38,720)						(16,025)						(13,962)						(74,361)
Losses and credits forward			1,146,434						58,099						20,568						19,090						1,244,191
Other			(58,691)						(99)						(1,773)						(5,818)						(66,381)
Net deferred income tax (liabilities) assets			$	(854,259)					$	31,300					$	9,643					$	(1,943)					$	(815,259)

Schedule of movement in valuation allowance for deferred income taxes

The following table presents the movements in the valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

			Year Ended December 31,
			2020						2019
Valuation allowance at beginning of period			$	74,361					$	92,298
Decrease of allowance to income tax provision			5,032						(17,937)
Valuation allowance at end of period			$	79,393					$	74,361

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Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years.

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Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets.

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Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

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