Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

For interim financial reporting, the Company estimates the annual tax rate based on projected taxable income for the full year and records a quarterly income tax provision in accordance with ASC No. 740-270 "Accounting for Income Taxes in Interim Periods." These interim estimates are subject to variation due to several factors, including the ability of the Company to accurately forecast pre-tax and taxable income and loss by jurisdiction, changes in laws or regulations, and expenses or losses for which tax benefits are not recognized. Jurisdictions with a projected loss for the year or an actual year-to-date loss where no tax benefit can be recognized are excluded from the estimated annual effective tax rate. The impact of including these jurisdictions on the quarterly effective tax rate calculations could result in a higher or lower effective tax rate during a particular quarter, based upon the mix and timing of actual earnings versus annual projections.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("Tax Act") was enacted into law effective January 1, 2018. The new legislation contains several key tax provisions that affected the Company, which include but are not limited to a one-time deemed repatriation tax on post-1986 accumulated earnings and profits of the undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries (“transition tax”), a reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, and other U.S. reform items. Due to the timing and significance of the Tax Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued

Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“SAB 118”), which provided a measurement period of up to one year through December 31, 2018 to report the impact of the new US tax law. In 2018, the Company decreased its provisional estimates of transition tax, related currency implications, state taxes and deferred tax rate change effect of the new law by $13.9 million, of which $13.0 million was recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2018. The reduction from the provisional 2017 amounts were primarily due to further transition tax analysis of accumulated earnings and foreign taxes paid. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had completed its accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act.

Prior to the passage of the Tax Act, the Company asserted that substantially all of the undistributed earnings of its foreign subsidiaries were considered indefinitely reinvested and accordingly, no deferred taxes were provided. As a result of the Tax Act, the Company has significant previously taxed income from its foreign subsidiaries, as a result of transition tax, that is generally able to be repatriated free of U. S. federal tax. In addition, future earnings of foreign subsidiaries are generally expected to be able to be repatriated free of U.S. federal income tax because these earnings were taxed in the U.S. under the GILTI regime or would be eligible for a dividends received deduction. Therefore, the Company does not intend to assert indefinite reinvestment on future cash earnings. While the Company will have to provide for withholding taxes and U.S. state taxes on the future earnings, these amounts are not expected to be significant.

All unrecognized tax positions could impact the Company's effective tax rate if recognized. With respect to penalties and interest incurred from income tax assessments or related to unrecognized tax benefits, the Company’s policy is to classify penalties as provision for income taxes and interest as interest expense in its condensed consolidated statement of income. There were no material income tax penalties or interest accrued during the three or nine months ended September 30, 2019 or 2018.

The Company's effective tax rate from continuing operations was 10.8% and (16.0)% for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The 10.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2019, was lower than our full year rate primarily due to favorable discrete adjustments recorded in the period, while the prior-year (16.0%) rate included a favorable one-time transition tax adjustment. The Company's effective tax rate from continuing operations was 16.4% and 10.6% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The 16.4% rate in the current nine-month period was impacted by favorable discrete items, while the prior-year 10.6% rate included a favorable one-time transition tax adjustment.