(7)
Income Taxes

 

Income before provision for income taxes in 2025, 2024 and 2023 consisted of the following:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

U.S.

 

$

753,085

 

 

$

707,705

 

 

$

640,255

 

Foreign

 

 

17,253

 

 

 

14,510

 

 

 

12,185

 

Income before provision for income taxes

 

$

770,338

 

 

$

722,215

 

 

$

652,440

 

 

The components of the Company’s provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for 2025, 2024 and 2023 are summarized as follows in the table below. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Company has included the relevant disclosures retrospectively for all periods presented in the consolidated financial statements.

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

U.S. Federal income tax provision,
   based on the statutory rate

 

$

161,771

 

 

 

21.0

%

 

$

151,665

 

 

 

21.0

%

 

$

137,012

 

 

 

21.0

%

State and local income taxes,
   net of related Federal income tax effects
(1)

 

 

23,501

 

 

 

3.1

%

 

 

22,546

 

 

 

3.1

%

 

 

19,473

 

 

 

3.0

%

Foreign tax effects

 

 

29,558

 

 

 

3.8

%

 

 

26,600

 

 

 

3.7

%

 

 

25,301

 

 

 

3.9

%

Nontaxable or nondeductible items

 

 

7,307

 

 

 

0.9

%

 

 

6,107

 

 

 

0.8

%

 

 

5,040

 

 

 

0.8

%

Changes in valuation allowances

 

 

4,142

 

 

 

0.5

%

 

 

3,918

 

 

 

0.5

%

 

 

3,334

 

 

 

0.5

%

Changes in unrecognized tax benefits

 

 

(46

)

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

616

 

 

 

0.1

%

 

 

16

 

 

 

0.0

%

Effect of cross-border tax laws

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign derived intangible income deduction

 

 

(16,800

)

 

 

(2.2

)%

 

 

(16,380

)

 

 

(2.3

)%

 

 

(17,850

)

 

 

(2.7

)%

Tax credits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign tax credits

 

 

(29,558

)

 

 

(3.8

)%

 

 

(26,600

)

 

 

(3.7

)%

 

 

(23,582

)

 

 

(3.6

)%

Other credits

 

 

(3,887

)

 

 

(0.5

)%

 

 

(5,856

)

 

 

(0.8

)%

 

 

(5,440

)

 

 

(0.8

)%

Other adjustments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excess tax benefits from equity-based compensation

 

 

(3,158

)

 

 

(0.4

)%

 

 

(22,241

)

 

 

(3.1

)%

 

 

(3,397

)

 

 

(0.5

)%

Other

 

 

(4,196

)

 

 

(0.5

)%

 

 

(2,330

)

 

 

(0.2

)%

 

 

(6,585

)

 

 

(1.2

)%

Provision for income taxes

 

$

168,634

 

 

 

21.9

%

 

$

138,045

 

 

 

19.1

%

 

$

133,322

 

 

 

20.4

%

 

(1)

 

California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota and New York City made up the majority (greater than 50%) of this category in each of the years presented, with the addition of Oregon for 2025.

Excess tax benefits from equity-based compensation activity resulted in a decrease in the Company’s provision for income taxes of $3.2 million, $22.2 million and $3.4 million in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, primarily due to the recognition of excess tax benefits for options exercised and the vesting of equity awards.

 

The components of the 2025, 2024 and 2023 consolidated provision for income taxes were as follows:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

Provision for Federal income taxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current provision

 

$

107,796

 

 

$

95,376

 

 

$

100,287

 

Deferred provision (benefit)

 

 

1,503

 

 

 

(8,816

)

 

 

(16,467

)

Total provision for Federal income taxes

 

 

109,299

 

 

 

86,560

 

 

 

83,820

 

Provision for state and local income taxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current provision

 

 

29,992

 

 

 

25,186

 

 

 

27,243

 

Deferred benefit

 

 

(215

)

 

 

(301

)

 

 

(2,991

)

Total provision for state and local income taxes

 

 

29,777

 

 

 

24,885

 

 

 

24,252

 

Provision for non-resident withholding and foreign income taxes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current provision

 

 

29,558

 

 

 

26,600

 

 

 

25,301

 

Deferred benefit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(51

)

Total provision for non-resident withholding and foreign income taxes

 

 

29,558

 

 

 

26,600

 

 

 

25,250

 

Provision for income taxes

 

$

168,634

 

 

$

138,045

 

 

$

133,322

 

 

As of December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024, the significant components of net deferred income taxes were as follows in the table below. Certain prior period disclosure amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation.

 

 

 

December 28,
2025

 

 

December 29,
2024

 

Deferred income tax assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating lease liabilities

 

$

56,880

 

 

$

55,538

 

Foreign tax credit

 

 

25,112

 

 

 

20,970

 

Insurance reserves

 

 

12,005

 

 

 

11,800

 

Accrued compensation

 

 

11,129

 

 

 

11,918

 

Non-cash equity-based compensation expense

 

 

9,803

 

 

 

10,354

 

Contract liabilities

 

 

7,065

 

 

 

6,760

 

Accruals and reserves

 

 

4,563

 

 

 

4,276

 

Other

 

 

6,847

 

 

 

4,385

 

Deferred income tax assets before valuation allowance

 

 

133,404

 

 

 

126,001

 

Less, valuation allowance

 

 

(26,348

)

 

 

(22,359

)

Deferred income tax assets, net

 

 

107,056

 

 

 

103,642

 

Deferred income tax liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 

 

53,935

 

 

 

52,684

 

Capitalized software

 

 

17,948

 

 

 

8,535

 

Depreciation, amortization and asset basis differences

 

 

9,585

 

 

 

9,103

 

Unrealized gain on investments

 

 

3,487

 

 

 

9,888

 

Deferred income tax liabilities

 

 

84,955

 

 

 

80,210

 

Net deferred income taxes

 

$

22,101

 

 

$

23,432

 

 

Realization of the Companys deferred tax assets is dependent upon many factors, including, but not limited to, the Companys ability to generate sufficient taxable income. Although realization of the Companys deferred tax assets is not assured, on an ongoing basis, management assesses whether it remains more likely than not the deferred tax assets will be realized.

 

As of December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024, the Company had total foreign tax credits of $25.1 million and $21.0 million, respectively, which were fully offset with a corresponding valuation allowance. As of December 28, 2025 and December 29, 2024, the Company also had valuation allowances related to interest deductibility in separately filed states of $1.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively. Management believes the remaining deferred tax assets will be realized. For financial reporting purposes, the Companys investment in foreign subsidiaries does not exceed its tax basis. Therefore, no deferred income taxes have been provided.

 

The Company recognizes the financial statement benefit of a tax position if it is more likely than not that the position is sustainable, based solely on its technical merits and consideration of the relevant taxing authorities widely understood administrative practices and precedents. For tax positions meeting the “more likely than not” threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. The Company recognizes accrued interest related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and recognizes penalties in income tax expense.

 

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of December 28, 2025, December 29, 2024 and December 31, 2023 is as follows:

 

 

 

December 28,
2025

 

 

December 29,
2024

 

 

December 31,
2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of period

 

$

4,534

 

 

$

3,918

 

 

$

3,902

 

Additions for tax positions of current year

 

 

649

 

 

 

1,039

 

 

 

961

 

Additions for tax positions of prior years

 

 

193

 

 

 

241

 

 

 

503

 

Reductions for changes in prior year tax positions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(551

)

Reductions for lapses of applicable statute of limitations

 

 

(888

)

 

 

(664

)

 

 

(897

)

Unrecognized tax benefits at end of period

 

$

4,488

 

 

$

4,534

 

 

$

3,918

 

 

As of December 28, 2025, the amount of unrecognized tax benefits was $4.5 million of which, if ultimately recognized, $4.5 million would be recognized as an income tax benefit and reduce the Companys effective tax rate. As of December 28, 2025, the Company had $0.7 million of accrued interest and no accrued penalties.

 

As of December 29, 2024, the amount of unrecognized tax benefits was $4.5 million of which, if ultimately recognized, $4.5 million would be recognized as an income tax benefit and reduce the Companys effective tax rate. As of December 29, 2024, the Company had $0.6 million of accrued interest and no accrued penalties.

 

There are currently no Internal Revenue Service audits in progress for the Company. The Company continues to be under examination by certain states. The Companys Federal statute of limitation has expired for years prior to 2022, but it varies for state and foreign locations. The Company believes appropriate provisions for all outstanding tax issues have been made for all jurisdictions and all open years.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Feb 23, 2026Showing above
2024Feb 24, 2025
2023Feb 23, 2023
2022Mar 1, 2022
2021Feb 25, 2021
2019Feb 20, 2020
2018Feb 21, 2019
2017Feb 20, 2018
2016Feb 25, 2016

About Income Taxes Disclosures

The income tax disclosure reveals how much a company actually pays in taxes versus what the statutory rate would predict. Analysts focus on the effective tax rate (ETR) reconciliation, which breaks down every item driving the gap between the 21% federal rate and the company's reported ETR — including R&D credits, foreign rate differentials, and state taxes. Deferred tax assets (DTAs) and their valuation allowances signal management's confidence in future profitability: a rising allowance suggests the company doubts it can use accumulated tax benefits. Uncertain tax benefit (UTB) reserves quantify exposure to IRS challenges on aggressive positions.

Key signals to watch: sudden ETR drops without clear operational reasons, large increases in valuation allowances, growing UTB balances, and significant unremitted foreign earnings. Post-TCJA, pay attention to GILTI and BEAT provisions that affect multinational tax structures. Compare the cash taxes paid (from the cash flow statement) against the income tax provision to gauge earnings quality.