Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

The benefit (provision) for income taxes is comprised of the following (dollars in thousands):

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Federal:
Current	$	1,367		$	(312	)	$	193
Deferred		182,371			183			347
Total Federal		183,738			(129	)		540
State:
Current		(2,433	)		(1,627	)		(2,059	)
Deferred (included in Federal above)		—			—			—
Total State		(2,433	)		(1,627	)		(2,059	)
Total	$	181,305		$	(1,756	)	$	(1,519	)

Reconciliation of the benefit for income taxes to the amount computed at the U.S. Federal statutory rate

A reconciliation of the benefit (provision) for income taxes to the amount computed at the U.S. Federal statutory rate of 35% is as follows (dollars in thousands):

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Tax benefit at U.S. statutory rate	$	115,756		$	640		$	22,945
Valuation allowance		64,155			(7,097	)		(24,138	)
State taxes, net of federal income tax		11,582			(985	)		1,258
Unrecognized tax benefits		822			(3	)		193
Return to provision		716			(2,568	)		(225	)
Non-deductible transaction costs		(6,870	)		—			—
Tax credits		(2,222	)		9,757			—
Meals and entertainment		(946	)		(496	)		(486	)
Tax rate changes		(718	)		—			—
Officers compensation		(751	)		(724	)		(922	)
Other, net		(118	)		(65	)		122
Lobbying and political		(101	)		(89	)		—
Expired charitable contribution		—			(126	)		—
Loss on acquisition		—			—			(266	)
Total	$	181,305		$	(1,756	)	$	(1,519	)

Components of deferred tax assets and liabilities

Significant components of the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31 are as follows (dollars in thousands):

	2014			2013
Deferred income tax assets:
Capital and financing lease obligations	$	945,000		$	39,748
Operating loss carryforwards		227,956			150,755
Accrued expenses		146,536			54,400
Deferred lease liability		77,790			49,864
Tax credits		34,860			32,673
Intangible assets		17,785			—
Deferred gain on sale leaseback		7,073			8,673
Prepaid revenue		5,835			53,228
Total gross deferred income tax asset		1,462,835			389,341
Valuation allowance		(9,213	)		(72,366	)
Net deferred income tax assets		1,453,622			316,975
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment		(1,556,603	)		(374,431	)
Investment in unconsolidated ventures		(54,113	)		—
Other		(2,181	)		(6,200	)
Total gross deferred income tax liability		(1,612,897	)		(380,631	)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(159,275	)	$	(63,656	)

Reconciliation of net deferred tax liability to the consolidated balance sheets

A reconciliation of the net deferred tax liability to the consolidated balance sheets at December 31 is as follows (dollars in thousands):

	2014			2013
Deferred tax asset – current	$	84,199		$	17,643
Deferred tax liability – noncurrent		(243,474	)		(81,299	)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(159,275	)	$	(63,656	)

Reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the unrecognized tax benefits for the year 2014 is as follows (dollars in thousands):

Balance at January 1, 2014	$	1,556
Additions for tax positions taken by Emeritus		29,664
Additions for tax positions related to the current year		—
Additions for tax positions related to prior years		9
Reductions for tax positions related to prior years		(1,034	)
Balance at December 31, 2014	$	30,195