Income Taxes

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



	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015			2014
Current:
Federal	$	38,103		$	31,295		$	28,581
State	6,685			5,837			5,060
Foreign	2,672			2,048			2,181
	47,460			39,180			35,822
Deferred:
Federal and State	13,169			11,520			15,991
Foreign	(426		)	(209		)	(256		)
	12,743			11,311			15,735
	$	60,203		$	50,491		$	51,557

Income from continuing operations before income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
United States	$	148,402	$	116,011	$	122,496
Foreign	8,997		5,902		2,556
	$	157,399	$	121,913	$	125,052

The components of deferred tax assets (liabilities) are as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2016			2015
Intangibles	$	(88,832	)	$	(70,588	)
Depreciation expense	(14,383		)	(14,369		)
Allowance for doubtful accounts	3,185			2,607
Employee-related accruals	10,156			7,573
Workers’ compensation loss reserves	757			720
Stock-based compensation	9,300			7,354
Other	5,482			5,061
Net operating loss carryforwards	1,262			1,147
Valuation allowance	(1,209		)	(1,044		)
	$	(74,282	)	$	(61,539	)

The reconciliation between the amount computed by applying the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 35.0 percent to income before income taxes and the income tax provision is as follows (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2016			2015		2014
Income tax provision at the statutory rate	$	55,089		$	42,669	$	43,768
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	4,873			4,559		4,674
Disallowed meals and entertainment expenses	1,814			1,718		1,608
Other	(1,573		)	1,545		1,507
	$	60,203		$	50,491	$	51,557

As of December 31, 2016, the Company had no federal net operating losses, no state net operating losses and $5.8 million of foreign net operating losses. The foreign net operating losses in the United Kingdom and Spain can be carried forward indefinitely. The Company has recorded a valuation allowance of approximately $1.2 million and $1.0 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, related to net operating loss carryforwards.

The Company has not provided deferred income taxes on $16.3 million of undistributed earnings of its foreign subsidiaries as of December 31, 2016 since the Company intends to reinvest these earnings indefinitely. Those earnings are considered to be indefinitely reinvested; accordingly, no provision for U.S. federal and state income taxes has been provided thereon. Upon repatriation of those earnings, in the form of dividends or otherwise, the Company would be subject to both U.S. income taxes (subject to an adjustment for foreign tax credits) and withholding taxes payable to the various foreign countries. Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred U.S. income tax liability is not practicable due to the complexities associated with its hypothetical calculation; however, unrecognized foreign tax credit carryforwards would be available to reduce some portion of the U.S. liability.

The Company had gross deferred tax assets of $34.4 million and $29.2 million and gross deferred tax liabilities of $107.5 million and $89.7 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Management has determined the gross deferred tax assets are realizable, with the exception of foreign net operating losses discussed above.

At December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, there were $1.3 million to $0.8 million of unrecognized tax benefits that if recognized would affect the annual effective tax rate. The gross unrecognized tax benefit is carried in other long-term liabilities. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. The amount of interest and penalties recognized in the financial statements is not significant. The Company believes that it is reasonably possible that a decrease of $0.8 million in unrecognized tax benefits may be recognized by the end of 2017 as a result of a lapse in the statute of limitations. The following is a reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015			2014
Unrecognized tax benefit beginning of year	$	814	$	848		$	979
Gross increases - tax positions in prior year	479		—			126
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior year	—		(34		)	—
Lapse of the statute of limitations	—		—			(131		)
Discontinued operations	—		—			(126		)
Unrecognized tax benefit end of year	$	1,293	$	814		$	848

The Company is subject to taxation in the United States and various states and foreign jurisdictions. The IRS has commenced an examination of the Company’s U.S. income tax returns for the 2014 tax year. The Company remains subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for 2013 and subsequent years. For major U.S. states, with few exceptions, the Company remains subject to examination for 2012 and subsequent years. Generally, for the foreign tax jurisdictions, the Company remains subject to examination for 2012 and subsequent years.