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Income Taxes (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2012
Income Taxes [Abstract] |
Provision for income tax (benefit) expense from continuing operations | The provision for income tax (benefit) expense from continuing operations consists of the following:
|  | Year Ended December 31, |
|  | 2012 |  |  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
|  | (In thousands) |
Current: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal |  | $ | 22,982 |  |  | $ | 3,677 |  |  | $ | 7,918 |
State |  |  | 1,090 |  |  |  | 8,646 |  |  |  | 3,013 |
|  |  | 24,072 |  |  |  | 12,323 |  |  |  | 10,931 |
Deferred |  |  | 25,900 |  |  |  | 39,408 |  |  |  | (26,701 | )
Total provision for income taxes — (benefit) expense |  | $ | 49,972 |  |  | $ | 51,731 |  |  | $ | (15,770 | )
Reconciliation of statutory federal income tax rate with federal and state overall effective income tax rate from continuing operations | The reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate with Sonic’s federal and state overall effective income tax rate from continuing operations is as follows:
|  | Year Ended December 31, |
|  | 2012 |  |  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
Statutory federal rate |  |  | 35.00 | % |  |  | 35.00 | % |  |  | 35.00 | %
Effective state income tax rate |  |  | 4.22 | % |  |  | 3.92 | % |  |  | 4.70 | %
Valuation allowance adjustments |  |  | (3.15 | %) |  |  | — |  |  |  | (58.69 | %)
Other |  |  | (0.69 | %) |  |  | (0.10 | %) |  |  | 0.01 | %
Effective tax rate |  |  | 35.38 | % |  |  | 38.82 | % |  |  | (18.98 | %)
Components of deferred tax assets and liabilities | Significant components of Sonic’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:
|  | December 31, |
|  | 2012 |  |  | 2011 |
|  | (In thousands) |
Deferred tax assets: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Accruals and reserves |  | $ | 40,944 |  |  | $ | 42,436 |
State net operating loss carryforwards |  |  | 11,093 |  |  |  | 14,186 |
Fair value of interest rate swaps |  |  | 12,999 |  |  |  | 14,240 |
Interest and state taxes associated with the liability for uncertain income tax positions |  |  | 3,260 |  |  |  | 6,194 |
Other |  |  | 269 |  |  |  | 298 |
Total deferred tax assets |  |  | 68,565 |  |  |  | 77,354 |
Deferred tax liabilities: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Basis difference in inventory |  |  | (2,055 | ) |  |  | (1,795 | )
Basis difference in property and equipment |  |  | (9,993 | ) |  |  | (16,344 | )
Basis difference in goodwill |  |  | (36,381 | ) |  |  | (18,641 | )
Basis difference in debt |  |  | — |  |  |  | (7,703 | )
Other |  |  | (3,791 | ) |  |  | (3,690 | )
Total deferred tax liability |  |  | (52,220 | ) |  |  | (48,173 | )
Valuation allowance |  |  | (6,333 | ) |  |  | (10,781 | )
Net deferred tax asset (liability) |  | $ | 10,012 |  |  | $ | 18,400 |
Summary of changes in liability related to unrecognized tax benefits | A summary of the changes in the liability related to Sonic’s unrecognized tax benefits is presented below.
|  | 2012 |  |  | 2011 |  |  | 2010 |
|  | (In thousands) |
Unrecognized tax benefit liability, January 1(1) |  | $ | 13,689 |  |  | $ | 22,535 |  |  | $ | 24,790 |
Prior period positions: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Increases |  |  | 35 |  |  |  | 684 |  |  |  | 518 |
Decreases |  |  | (1,101 | ) |  |  | — |  |  |  | (162 | )
Current period positions |  |  | 1,155 |  |  |  | 1,498 |  |  |  | 1,212 |
Settlements |  |  | (2,924 | ) |  |  | (9,391 | ) |  |  | (1,706 | )
Lapse of statute of limitations |  |  | (1,275 | ) |  |  | (1,175 | ) |  |  | (1,762 | )
Other |  |  | (482 | ) |  |  | (462 | ) |  |  | (355 | )
Unrecognized tax benefit liability, December 31(2) |  | $ | 9,097 |  |  | $ | 13,689 |  |  | $ | 22,535 |
(1) | Excludes accrued interest and penalties of $4.9 million, $5.1 million and $6.4 million at January 1, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.
(2) | Excludes accrued interest and penalties of $2.4 million, $4.9 million and $5.1 million at December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

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- Definition 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. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319 + Details
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- Definition 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. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319 + Details
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- Definition 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. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32687-109319 + Details
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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the change in unrecognized tax benefits. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 217 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=21917533&loc=d3e36027-109320 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=SL6600010-109319 + Details
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