undistributed earnings of $ 696.9 million from certain foreign subsidiaries are considered to be permanently reinvested abroad and will not be repatriated to the united states in the foreseeable future . because those earnings are considered to be indefinitely reinvested , no domestic federal or state deferred income taxes have been provided thereon . if we were to make a distribution of any portion of those earnings in the form of dividends or otherwise , we would be subject to both u.s . income taxes ( subject to an adjustment for foreign tax credits ) and withholding taxes payable to the various foreign jurisdictions . because of the availability of u.s . foreign tax credit carryforwards , it is not practicable to determine the domestic federal income tax liability that would be payable if such earnings were no longer considered to be reinvested indefinitely . a valuation allowance is provided against deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized . changes to our valuation allowance during the years ended may 31 , 2015 and 2014 are summarized below ( in thousands ) : .
what is the net change in the balance of valuation allowance during 2015?
net operating loss carryforwards of foreign subsidiaries totaling $ 12.4 million and u.s . net operating loss carryforwards previously acquired totaling $ 19.8 million at may 31 , 2015 will expire between may 31 , 2017 and may 31 , 2033 if not utilized . capital loss carryforwards of u.s . subsidiaries totaling $ 4.7 million will expire if not utilized by may 31 , 2017 . tax credit carryforwards totaling $ 8.4 million at may 31 , 2015 will expire between may 31 , 2017 and may 31 , 2023 if not utilized . we conduct business globally and file income tax returns in the u.s . federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions . in the normal course of business , we are subject to examination by taxing authorities around the world . as a result of events that occurred in the fourth quarter of the year ended may 31 , 2015 , management concluded that it was more likely than not that the tax positions in a foreign jurisdiction , for which we had recorded estimated liabilities of $ 65.6 million in other noncurrent liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet , would be sustained on their technical merits based on information available as of may 31 , 2015 . therefore , the liability and corresponding deferred tax assets were eliminated as of may 31 , 2015 . the uncertain tax positions have been subject to an ongoing examination in that foreign jurisdiction by the tax authority . discussions and correspondence between the tax authority and us during the fourth quarter indicated that the likelihood of the positions being sustained had increased . subsequent to may 31 , 2015 , we received a final closure notice regarding the examination resulting in no adjustments to taxable income related to this matter for the tax returns filed for the periods ended may 31 , 2010 through may 31 , 2013 . the unrecognized tax benefits were effectively settled with this final closure notice . we are no longer subjected to state income tax examinations for years ended on or before may 31 , 2008 , u.s . federal income tax examinations for fiscal years prior to 2012 and united kingdom federal income tax examinations for years ended on or before may 31 , 2013 . 78 2013 global payments inc . | 2015 form 10-k annual report .