INCOME TAXES

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. and its 80 percent (or more) owned U.S. subsidiaries file a consolidated federal income tax return. We file unitary or separate state returns based on state filing requirements. During the first quarter of 2016, we asserted that we will indefinitely reinvest earnings of foreign subsidiaries to support expansion of our international business. In 2016, our indefinite reinvestment strategy, with respect to unremitted earnings of our foreign subsidiaries provided an approximate $5.1 million benefit to our provision for income taxes related to current year earnings. If we repatriated all foreign earnings, the estimated effect on income taxes payable would be an increase of approximately $16.6 million as of December 31, 2016. With few exceptions, we are no longer subject to audits of U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax returns before 2009.

Income before provision for income taxes consisted of (in thousands):



	2016		2015		2014
Domestic	$	710,931	$	729,390	$	659,996
Foreign	101,019		93,391		63,435
Total	$	811,950	$	822,781	$	723,431

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, is as follows (in thousands):



	2016			2015			2014
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of period	$	13,271		$	18,274		$	16,897
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	—			1,520			2,002
Additions for tax positions of prior years	55			—			839
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(211		)	(810		)	(183		)
Lapse in statute of limitations	(847		)	(5,188		)	(1,281		)
Settlements	—			(525		)	—
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of the period	$	12,268		$	13,271		$	18,274

As of December 31, 2016, we had $18.9 million of unrecognized tax benefits and related interest and penalties, all of which would affect our effective tax rate if recognized. We are not aware of any tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefit will significantly increase or decrease in the next 12 months.

Income tax expense considers amounts which may be needed to cover exposures for open tax years. We do not expect any material impact related to open tax years; however, actual settlements may differ from amounts accrued.

We recognize interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in the provision for income taxes. During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014, we recognized approximately $0.9 million, $1.2 million, and $1.5 million in interest and penalties. We had approximately $6.6 million and $6.4 million for the payment of interest and penalties accrued within noncurrent income taxes payable as of December 31, 2016 and 2015. These amounts are not included in the reconciliation above.

The components of the provision for income taxes consist of the following for the years ended December 31 (in thousands):



	2016			2015			2014
Tax provision:
Federal	$	222,685		$	259,793		$	224,468
State	31,786			37,129			32,110
Foreign	29,086			33,255			20,259
	283,557			330,177			276,837
Deferred provision (benefit):
Federal	13,936			(14,559		)	(5,302		)
State	1,986			(2,074		)	(755		)
Foreign	(913		)	(462		)	2,940
	15,009			(17,095		)	(3,117		)
Total provision	$	298,566		$	313,082		$	273,720

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes using the statutory federal income tax rate to our effective income tax rate for the years ended December 31 is as follows:



	2016		2015		2014
Federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	2.7		2.8		2.8
Other	(0.9	)	0.3		—
	36.8	%	38.1	%	37.8	%

Deferred tax assets (liabilities) are comprised of the following at December 31 (in thousands):



	2016			2015
Deferred tax assets:
Compensation	$	80,338		$	91,729
Receivables	13,471			16,243
Other	11,433			9,242
Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangible assets	(131,698		)	(133,375		)
Prepaid assets	(14,540		)	(13,418		)
Long-lived assets	(21,268		)	(18,666		)
Other	(608		)	(427		)
Net deferred tax (liabilities) assets	$	(62,872	)	$	(48,672	)

We had foreign net operating loss carryforwards with a tax effect of $9.0 million as of December 31, 2016, and $8.0 million as of December 31, 2015. The net operating loss carryforwards will expire at various dates from 2018 to 2025, with certain jurisdictions having indefinite carryforward terms. A full valuation allowance has been established for these net operating loss carryforwards due to the uncertainty of the use of the tax benefit in future periods.