The Company recorded net tax provisions of $10.8 million, $8.1 million, and $6.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. Cash taxes paid net of refunds were $7.7 million, $7.8 million, and $5.6 million for the years ending December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively.

	2020		2019		2018
United States	$	22,725	$	11,353	$	10,268
Foreign		17,846		20,105		22,320
	$	40,571	$	31,458	$	32,588

	2020			2019			2018
Current
Federal	$	7,909		$	2,835		$	(904	)
Foreign		5,093			6,170			6,247
State and local		1,188			391			350
		14,190			9,396			5,693
Deferred
Federal		(2,290	)		(10	)		801
Foreign		(445	)		(1,347	)		(608	)
State and local		(645	)		83			121
		(3,380	)		(1,274	)		314
Income taxes	$	10,810		$	8,122		$	6,007

The differences between the provision for income taxes at the U.S. federal statutory rate and the tax shown in the Statements of Consolidated Income for the years ended December 31 are summarized as follows:

	2020			2019			2018
U. S. federal statutory tax rate	21%			21%			21%

Federal tax at statutory rate	$	8,520		$	6,606		$	6,843
State and local taxes, net of federal benefit		942			308			273
U.S. federal permanent items		1,323			621			240
Global intangible low-taxed income		1,222			1,738			1,721
Foreign tax credits		(1,204	)		(1,422	)		(1,707	)
Transition tax		0			0			(1,780	)
Non-U.S. tax rate variances		1,330			929			1,011
Valuation allowance		(245	)		(346	)		(57	)
Tax credits		(349	)		(464	)		(295	)
Tax act impact, deferred rate		0			0			(680	)
Other, net		(729	)		152			438
	$	10,810		$	8,122		$	6,007

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their carrying value for financial statement purposes. The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities at December 31 are as follows:

	2020			2019
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued compensation and benefits	$	1,518		$	1,180
Inventory valuation reserves		2,535			2,384
Allowance for doubtful accounts		480			473
Benefit plan reserves		7,564			7,586
Net operating loss carryforwards		1,851			3,003
Other accrued expenses		3,825			3,012
Unrealized foreign exchange		799			718
Other		284			0
Gross deferred tax assets		18,856			18,356
Valuation allowance		(2,912	)		(3,137	)
Net deferred tax assets		15,944			15,219
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation and other basis differences		(4,514	)		(6,867	)
Intangibles		(3,419	)		(3,742	)
Other		(69	)		(162	)
Deferred tax liabilities		(8,002	)		(10,771	)
Net deferred tax assets	$	7,942		$	4,448

	2020			2019
Change in net deferred tax assets:
Deferred income tax expense
Ordinary movement	$	3,380		$	1,275
Deferred tax balances from business acquisition		0			(1,883	)
Items of other comprehensive income (loss)		319			(62	)
Currency translation		(205	)		(71	)
Total change in net deferred tax assets	$	3,494		$	(741	)

Deferred taxes are recorded at a rate at which such items are expected to reverse based on currently enacted tax rates for temporary differences between the financial reporting and income tax basis of assets and liabilities and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.

At December 31, 2020, the Company had $7.0 million of foreign net operating loss carryforwards of which $5.4 million has an indefinite carryforward and $1.6 million will expire between the years 2024 and 2030.

The Company assesses the available positive and negative evidence to determine if it is more likely than not sufficient future taxable income will be generated to utilize the existing deferred tax assets by jurisdiction. Based on this evaluation, the Company has established a valuation allowance of $2.9 million at December 31, 2020 in order to measure only the portion of the deferred tax asset that is more likely than not to be realized. The net decrease in the valuation allowance during the year was $.3 million, of which $.2 million impacts the income tax provision and the remainder relates to currency translation.

The Company considers the majority of the earnings in our non-U.S. subsidiaries to be permanently reinvested and accordingly did not record any associated deferred income taxes on such earnings. Accordingly, the Company intends to continue to invest approximately $115.8 million of such earnings, as well as our capital in these subsidiaries, indefinitely outside of the U.S.

The Company is subject to taxation in the U.S. and various state and foreign jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2020, with few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal examinations by tax authorities for years before 2015 and state, local or foreign examinations by tax authorities for years before 2014.

The following is a tabular reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions, excluding interest and penalties, for the year ended December 31:

	2020			2019		2018
Balance at January 1	$	118		$	0	$	0
Additions for tax positions of current year		0			0		0
Additions for tax positions of prior years		0			118		0
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		0			0		0
Expiration of statutes of limitations		(52	)		0		0
Balance at December 31	$	66		$	118	$	0

The Company records accrued interest as well as penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as part of the provision for income taxes. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the 2016 portion of the Company’s uncertain tax position in the amount of $.1 million expired due to the stature of limitation taking effect. The Company had no significant activity with regard to unrecognized tax benefits. The Company had less than $.1 million of accrued interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. There was no accrued interest or penalties as of December 31, 2018. The remaining balance of $.1 million will expire within the next twelve months due to the statute of limitations.