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INCOME TAXES
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES INCOME TAXES
The components of earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and the provision for (benefit from) income taxes from continuing operations were as follows:
 Years ended December 31,
 202120202019
 (In thousands)
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes:
United States$559,621 $(126,537)$(44,668)
Foreign133,019 (3,823)2,397 
Total$692,640 $(130,360)$(42,271)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes from continuing operations:
Current tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations:
Federal$8,673 $(642)$(1,065)
State24,011 9,523 9,187 
Foreign12,205 5,620 5,210 
44,889 14,501 13,332 
Deferred tax expense (benefit) from continuing operations:
Federal111,893 (27,534)(8,228)
State8,212 (10,263)(18,790)
Foreign6,048 4,932 (5,313)
126,153 (32,865)(32,331)
Total$171,042 $(18,364)$(18,999)

In 2021 and 2020, federal, state, and foreign net operating losses were utilized to offset current income taxes payable resulting in a tax benefit of $124 million and $278 million, respectively. In 2019, a taxable loss generated a net operating loss carryforward benefit of $282 million.

A reconciliation of the federal statutory tax rate with the effective tax rate from continuing operations follows:
 Years ended December 31,
 202120202019
 (Percentage of pre-tax earnings)
 Federal statutory tax rate 21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
 Impact on deferred taxes for changes in tax rates (0.3)%0.9 %20.5 %
 Additional deferred tax adjustments (0.1)%0.8 %— %
 State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit 4.4 %(3.4)%(19.2)%
 Foreign rates varying from federal statutory tax rate 0.1 %1.3 %3.1 %
 Tax contingencies (0.7)%5.5 %15.7 %
 Tax credits (0.3)%1.7 %11.3 %
 Other permanent book-tax differences 1.8 %(3.3)%(8.6)%
 Change in foreign valuation allowance(1.1)%(11.9)%— %
 Other(0.1)%1.5 %1.1 %
 Effective tax rate24.7 %14.1 %44.9 %
Deferred Income Taxes
The components of the net deferred income tax liability were as follows:
 December 31,
 20212020
 (In thousands)
Deferred income tax assets:
Self-insurance accruals$111,058 $104,346 
Net operating loss carryforwards271,203 381,585 
Accrued compensation and benefits68,968 46,321 
Pension benefits16,862 75,466 
Deferred revenue152,435 170,958 
Other, including federal benefit on state tax positions30,613 35,104 
651,139 813,780 
Valuation allowance(23,456)(41,153)
627,683 772,627 
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property and equipment basis differences(1,873,598)(1,888,112)
Other(23,818)(5,379)
(1,897,416)(1,893,491)
Net deferred income tax liability (1)
$(1,269,733)$(1,120,864)
_______________
(1)Deferred tax assets of $5 million have been included in "Sales-type leases and other assets" as of both December 31, 2021 and 2020.

In October 2021 we repatriated $72 million of undistributed earnings from two of our foreign subsidiaries with minimal tax cost to partially fund the Midwest acquisition in the U.S. As of December 31, 2021, we have reevaluated our historic assertion with respect to our U.K. and Germany operations and no longer consider these earnings to be indefinitely reinvested. The deferred tax liability recorded on the U.K. and Germany undistributed earnings was not material. We intend to continue to permanently reinvest the earnings from our remaining foreign jurisdictions which, as of December 31, 2021, had $436 million of undistributed foreign earnings. The determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liability associated with the $436 million of undistributed foreign earnings is not practicable because of the complexities associated with the hypothetical calculations used in evaluating whether we will maintain the indefinite reinvestment assertion on the remaining foreign subsidiaries.
As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal tax effected net operating loss carryforwards, before unrecognized tax benefits, of $222 million, of which $7 million is expected to expire beginning 2034 and the remaining portion has an indefinite carryforward period. Various U.S. subsidiaries had state tax effected net operating loss carryforwards, before unrecognized tax benefits and valuation allowances, of $52 million that will begin to expire as follows: $0.5 million in 2022 through 2024, $45.5 million in years 2026 and thereafter, with the remaining $6 million having an indefinite carryforward period. To the extent that we do not generate sufficient state taxable income through viable planning strategies within the statutory carryforward periods to utilize the loss carryforwards in these states, the loss carryforwards will expire unused. We also had foreign tax effected net operating loss carryforwards of $27 million that are available to reduce future income tax payments in several countries, subject to varying expiration rules. We assess the realizability of our deferred tax assets and record a valuation allowance to the extent it is determined that they are not more-likely-than-not to be realized. Due to our assessment of future sources of taxable income in various states and foreign jurisdictions, we have a cumulative valuation allowance of $23 million against our deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2021, a net decrease of $18 million from the prior year. The valuation allowance is subject to change in future years based on the availability of future sources of taxable income.
Uncertain Tax Positions
In many cases, our uncertain tax positions are related to tax years that remain subject to examination by the relevant taxing authorities. The following table summarizes these open tax years by jurisdiction:
JurisdictionOpen Tax Year
United States (Federal)2013 - 2015, 2018 - 2021
Canada2013 - 2021
Mexico2016 - 2021
United Kingdom2020 - 2021
Brazil (in discontinued operations)2016 - 2021

The following table summarizes the activity related to unrecognized tax benefits (excluding the federal benefit received from state positions):
 December 31,
 202120202019
 (In thousands)
Balance at January 1$42,787 $48,918 $58,819 
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year1,316 2,225 1,422 
Reductions due to lapse of applicable statutes of limitation(5,696)(8,356)(11,323)
Gross balance at December 3138,407 42,787 48,918 
Interest and penalties3,585 4,491 4,772 
Balance at December 31$41,992 $47,278 $53,690 
Of the total unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021, $34 million (net of the federal benefit on state issues) represents the amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would favorably affect the effective tax rate in future periods. Unrecognized tax benefits related to federal, state and foreign tax positions may decrease by $8 million by December 31, 2022, if audits are completed or tax years close during 2022.