Income Taxes

Income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit) was comprised of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015

United States	$	(167,908	)	$	(128,396	)	$	30,795
Foreign	81,369			(53,326		)	112,634
Income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit)	$	(86,539	)	$	(181,722	)	$	143,429

Income taxes have been provided for based upon the tax laws and rates in the countries in which operations are conducted and income is earned. Components of income tax expense (benefit) consist of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015
Current
U.S. federal	$	—		$	(13,389	)	$	3,141
U.S. state and local	(15		)	379			(1,424		)
Foreign	10,516			14,903			30,734
Total current	10,501			1,893			32,451

Deferred
U.S. federal	56,621			(25,838		)	8,138
U.S. state and local	2,420			(1,512		)	(3,042		)
Foreign	3,376			(186		)	(228		)
Total deferred	62,417			(27,536		)	4,868
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	72,918		$	(25,643	)	$	37,319

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) was enacted into law. Among the significant changes made by the Act was the reduction of the U.S. federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% as well as the imposition of a one-time repatriation tax on deemed repatriated earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries. US GAAP requires that the impact of the Tax Act be recognized in the period in which the law was enacted. Because of the change in tax rate, the Company recorded a $23.8 million reduction in the value of its deferred tax assets and liabilities. The reduction in value was fully offset by a corresponding change in valuation allowance. The net effect on total tax expense was zero. Due to its legal structure, the Company does not expect to incur any material liability with respect to the repatriation tax. These provisional amounts are the Company’s best estimates based on its current interpretation of the Tax Act and may change as the Company receives additional clarification of the Tax Act and/or guidance on its implementation as part of its 2017 income tax compliance process.

Foreign taxes were incurred in the following regions for the periods indicated (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015

Latin America	$	5,469	$	1,159	$	6,077
West Africa	3,243		3,687		8,413
Middle East	1,633		1,880		5,474
Europe	1,348		5,132		3,317
Asia Pacific	1,388		1,364		1,454
Other	812		1,495		5,771
Total foreign income tax expense	$	13,893	$	14,717	$	30,506

A reconciliation of the differences between the income tax provision computed at the 35% U.S. statutory rate in effect at December 31, 2017 and the reported provision for income taxes for the periods indicated is as follows (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017			2016			2015

Income tax expense (benefit) at statutory rate	$	(30,289	)	$	(63,603	)	$	50,200
Branch profits tax	(4,871		)	(3,805		)	4,654
State taxes, net of federal benefit	2,405			(674		)	(2,758		)
Restricted stock units tax shortfall	1,651			2,758			1,152
Taxes on foreign earnings at less than the U.S. statutory rate	(22,464		)	30,737			(15,367		)
Effect of tax rate change	23,843			—			—
Tax effect of TRA derecognition	46,874			—			—
Establishment of valuation allowances	51,911			2,644			2,798
Return-to-provision adjustments	3,551			(1,130		)	(854		)
Noncontrolling interest	—			7,367			(2,991		)
Other	307			63			485
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	72,918		$	(25,643	)	$	37,319

A reconciliation using the Netherlands statutory rate was not provided as there are no significant operations in the Netherlands.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded for the anticipated future tax effects of temporary differences between the financial statement basis and tax basis of our assets and liabilities and are measured using the tax rates and laws expected to be in effect when the differences are projected to reverse. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is not more likely than not that some or all the benefit from the deferred tax asset will be realized. Significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2017			2016
Deferred tax assets
Foreign net operating loss	$	13,023		$	5,442
U.S. net operating loss	52,289			42,578
Research and development credit	297			297
TRA	566			49,775
Intangibles	5,935			6,939
Inventory	1,488			1,161
Investment in partnership	20,248			16,713
Other	419			1,240
Valuation allowance	(60,524		)	(5,442		)
Total deferred tax assets	33,741			118,703

Deferred tax liabilities
Investment in partnership	(23,594		)	(45,022		)
Property and equipment	(4,293		)	(7,898		)
Goodwill	(5,854		)	(7,147		)
Other	(229		)	(278		)
Total deferred liabilities	(33,970		)	(60,345		)

Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	(229	)	$	58,358

The valuation allowance increased from $5.4 million to $60.5 million during 2017 as a result of accumulated tax losses in both the U.S. and various foreign tax jurisdictions. We evaluated all available evidence and determined that it is more likely than not that these losses will not be realized.

It is our intention that all cash and earnings of our subsidiaries as of December 31, 2017 are permanently reinvested and will be used to meet operating cash flow needs. Existing plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign cash to fund parent company activity, however, should we determine that parent company funding is required, we estimate that any such cash needs may be met without adverse tax consequences.

As of both December 31, 2017 and 2016, we had total gross unrecognized tax benefits of $0.2 million. Substantially all of the uncertain tax positions, if recognized in the future, would impact our effective tax rate. We have elected to classify interest and penalties incurred on income taxes as income tax expense.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. and various international tax jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2017, our U.S. tax returns remain open to examination for the tax years 2013 through 2016, and the major foreign taxing jurisdictions to which we are subject are open to examination for the tax years 2010 through 2016.