9. Income Taxes

U.S. and foreign income before income taxes consist of the following (in thousands):


	2014		2013		2012
United States	$	56,575	$	31,823	$	49,021
Foreign		212,976		214,842		190,574
	$	269,551	$	246,665	$	239,595

The income tax provision (benefit) related to income before income taxes consists of the following components (in thousands):


	2014		2013		2012
Current:
U.S. federal statutory tax	$	14,829	$	8,167	$	6,858
State		2,540		1,822		938
Foreign		22,016		36,254		24,649
		39,385		46,243		32,445
Deferred:
U.S. federal statutory tax		10,707		2,171		7,642
State		2,674		566		1,380
Foreign		(3,030)		(10,980)		643
		10,351		(8,243)		9,665
Non-current tax expense (income)		1,408		1,505		(3,866)
	$	51,144	$	39,505	$	38,244

Non‑current tax expense (income) is primarily related to income tax associated with the reserve for uncertain tax positions.

A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to our effective income tax rate is as follows:


	2014		2013		2012
U.S. federal statutory tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Foreign earnings, net of foreign taxes	(18.2)		(18.7)		(16.7)
State income taxes, net of U.S. federal income tax benefit	1.3		0.6		0.6
Other permanent differences	0.9		(0.9)		(2.9)
Effective income tax rate	19.0	%	16.0	%	16.0	%

For 2014, our effective income tax rate was 19.0%, for an income tax provision of $51.1 million, as compared to an effective income tax rate of 16.0% and an income tax provision of $39.5 million for 2013. The higher effective income tax rate for 2014 resulted primarily from differences in the actual results of our subsidiaries in tax jurisdictions with different income tax rates and a U.S. gain on the sale of the crude oil joint venture interests as compared to 2013. Without the gain on the sale of the crude oil joint venture interests, for 2014, our effective income tax rate would have been 17.7%.

For 2013, our effective income tax rate was 16.0%, for an income tax provision of $39.5 million, as compared to an effective income tax rate of 16.0% and an income tax provision of $38.2 million for 2012. The effective income tax rate for 2013 remained flat compared to 2012. However, there were underlying differences in the actual results of our subsidiaries in tax jurisdictions with different income tax rates as compared to 2012 and differences in outstanding uncertain tax positions net of certain nonrecurring discrete tax items including statute lapses, audit settlements, and a change in estimate.

U.S. income taxes have not been provided on undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, we had $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, of earnings attributable to foreign subsidiaries. Our intention is to reinvest these earnings permanently in active non‑U.S. business operations. Therefore, no income tax liability has been accrued for these earnings. Because of the availability of U.S. foreign tax credits, it is not practicable to determine the amount of U.S. income tax payable if such earnings are not reinvested indefinitely.

The temporary differences which comprise our net deferred tax liabilities are as follows (in thousands):


	As of December 31,
	2014		2013
Gross Deferred Tax Assets:
Bad debt reserve	$	5,465	$	6,426
Net operating loss		4,819		774
Accrued and other share-based compensation		21,654		21,393
Accrued expenses		8,606		10,032
Unrealized derivative losses		—		558
Customer deposits		6,095		5,149
Installment sale		6,592		—
Unrealized foreign exchange		7,577		6,082
Total gross deferred tax assets		60,808		50,414
Less: Valuation allowance		—		—
Gross deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance		60,808		50,414
Deferred Tax Liabilities:
Depreciation		(13,133)		(19,199)
Goodwill and intangible assets		(45,294)		(28,099)
Prepaid expenses, deductible for tax purposes		(4,519)		(3,452)
Unrealized derivatives		(8,188)		—
Other		(1,248)		(740)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities		(72,382)		(51,490)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(11,574)	$	(1,076)
Reported on the consolidated balance sheets as:
Other current assets for deferred tax assets, current	$	22,825	$	32,118
Identifiable intangible and other non-current assets for deferred tax assets, non-current	$	15,555	$	16,342
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities for deferred tax liabilities, current	$	492	$	3,229
Non-current income tax liabilities, net for deferred tax liabilities, non-current	$	49,462	$	46,307

As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, we had foreign net operating losses (“NOLs”) of approximately $19.9 million and $2.6 million, respectively. The NOLs as of December 31, 2014 originated in various foreign countries including India, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. We have recorded a deferred tax asset of $4.8 million reflecting the benefit of the NOL carryforward as of December 31, 2014. This deferred tax asset expires as follows (in thousands):


	Deferred
Expiration Date	Tax Asset
December 31, 2016	$	73
December 31, 2021		124
December 31, 2023		189
December 31, 2024		472
Indefinite		3,961
Total	$	4,819

In addition, as a result of certain realization requirements of accounting guidance on stock compensation, the table of deferred tax assets and liabilities shown above does not include certain deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 that arose directly from income tax deductions related to equity compensation in excess of compensation recognized for financial reporting. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, we had no foreign tax credits related to the excess stock compensation deductions that resulted in an income tax deduction or credit before the realization of the income tax benefit from the deduction or credit. We use the “with and without” method for purposes of determining when excess income tax benefits have been realized.

As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, our annual capital in excess of par value pool of windfall income tax benefits related to employee compensation was estimated to be $1.0 million and $3.3 million, respectively.

We operated under a special income tax concession in Singapore which began January 1, 2008. Our current five year special income tax concession was effective on January 1, 2013. The special income tax concession is conditional upon our meeting certain employment and investment thresholds which, if not met in accordance with our agreement, may eliminate the benefit beginning with the first year in which the conditions are not satisfied. The income tax concession reduces the income tax rate on qualified sales and the impact of this income tax concession decreased foreign income taxes by $7.5 million, $6.2 million and $5.5 million for 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The impact of the income tax concession on basic earnings per common share was $0.11 for 2014, $0.09 for 2013 and $0.08 for 2012. On a diluted earnings per common share basis, the impact was $0.10 for 2014, $0.09 for 2013 and $0.08 for 2012.

Income Tax Contingencies

We recorded a decrease of $2.1 million of liabilities related to unrecognized income tax benefits (“Unrecognized Tax Liabilities”) and a decrease of $4.5 million of assets related to unrecognized income tax benefits (“Unrecognized Tax Assets”) during 2014. In addition, during 2014, we recorded a decrease of $0.5 million to our Unrecognized Tax Liabilities related to a foreign currency translation gain, which is included in other income (expense), net, in the accompanying consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. As of December 31, 2014, our Unrecognized Tax Liabilities, including penalties and interest, were $33.0 million and our Unrecognized Tax Assets were $2.3 million.

We recorded an increase of $4.1 million of Unrecognized Tax Liabilities and an increase of $1.8 million of Unrecognized Tax Assets during 2013. In addition, during 2013, we recorded a decrease of $0.1 million to our Unrecognized Tax Liabilities related to a foreign currency translation gain, which is included in other income (expense), net, in the accompanying consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income. As of December 31, 2013, our Unrecognized Tax Liabilities, including penalties and interest, were $36.2 million and our Unrecognized Tax Assets were $6.9 million.

The following is a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized income tax benefits for the year:


	2014		2013		2012
Unrecognized Tax Liabilities – opening balance	$	26,487	$	22,394	$	25,574
Gross increases – tax positions in prior period		65		2,559		—
Gross decreases – tax positions in prior period		(2,833)		(39)		(7,659)
Gross increases – tax positions in current period		6,636		4,999		5,730
Gross decreases – tax positions in current period		—		—		—
Settlements		(3,597)		—		—
Lapse of statute of limitations		(2,414)		(3,426)		(1,251)
Unrecognized Tax Liabilities – ending balance	$	24,344	$	26,487	$	22,394

If our uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2014 are settled by the taxing authorities in our favor, our income tax expense would be reduced by $22.0 million (exclusive of interest and penalties) in the period the matter is considered settled in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 740. This would have the impact of reducing our 2014 effective income tax rate by 8.2%. As of December 31, 2014, it does not appear that the total amount of our unrecognized income tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months.

We record accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized income tax benefits as income tax expense. Related to the uncertain income tax benefits noted above, for interest we recorded income of $0.6 million, $0.6 million and $0.7 million during 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. For penalties, we recorded income of $0.3 million, $0.3 million and $1.5 million during 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively. As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, we had recognized liabilities of $4.2 million and $4.9 million for interest and $4.5 million and $4.8 million for penalties, respectively.

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 with major uncertain tax positions:


	Open Tax Year
	Examination	Examination not
Jurisdiction	in progress	yet initiated
United States	2011	2012 - 2014
Singapore	None	2011 - 2014
United Kingdom	None	2004 - 2014
Brazil	2009	2010 - 2014
Chile	None	2009 - 2014
Denmark	2011	2012 - 2014