2.0.0.10 false Income Taxes 190006 - Disclosure - Income Taxes true false false false 1 usd $ false false Shares Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 USD Standard http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 0 USDEPS Divide http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217 USD iso4217 http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance shares xbrli 0 2 Income Taxes [Abstract] 0 wat_IncomeTaxesAbstract wat false na duration string Income Taxes [Abstract] false false false false false true false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 false false false Income Taxes [Abstract] false 3 Income Taxes 1 us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureTextBlock us-gaap true na duration string No definition available. false false false false false false false false false false false false 1 false false false false 0 0 <div><div><a name="_AUC15deb375e607407ebf0cb4085eda3ccf">6  Income Taxes</a>   The Company accounts for its uncertain tax return reporting positions in accordance with the accounting standards for income taxes, which require financial statement reporting of the expected future tax consequences of those tax reporting positions on the presumption that all concerned tax authorities possess full knowledge of those tax reporting positions, as well as all of the pertinent facts and circumstances, but prohibits any discounting of those unrecognized tax benefits for the time value of money.   The following is a summary of the activity of the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits for the three months ended April 3, 2010 and April 4, 2009 (in thousands):   <table class="MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; border-collapse: separate;"> <tr> <td width="514" valign="bottom" style="width: 308.35pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 5.05pt; margin-left: 5.05pt; text-indent: -5.05pt; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">  </td> <td width="130" valign="bottom" style="width: 78.1pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">      April 3, 2010      </td> <td width="129" valign="bottom" style="width: 77.2pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">      April 4, 2009         </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="514" valign="bottom" style="width: 308.35pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 5.05pt; margin-left: 5.05pt; text-indent: -5.05pt; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">Balance at the beginning of the period  </td> <td width="130" valign="bottom" style="width: 78.1pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">$              77,924 </td> <td width="129" valign="bottom" style="width: 77.2pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">$            77,295 </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="514" valign="bottom" style="width: 308.35pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 5.05pt; margin-left: .25in; white-space: nowrap; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none;">Net change in uncertain tax reporting positions </td> <td width="130" valign="bottom" style="width: 78.1pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">                    (448) </td> <td width="129" valign="bottom" style="width: 77.2pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">               (3,524) </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="514" valign="bottom" style="width: 308.35pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 0in; margin-right: 5.05pt; margin-left: 5.05pt; text-indent: -5.05pt; line-height: 93%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">  </td> <td width="130" valign="bottom" style="width: 78.1pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;">   </td> <td width="129" valign="bottom" style="width: 77.2pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; border-top: 0px;">   </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 10.35pt;"> <td width="514" valign="top" style="width: 308.35pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; height: 10.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> Balance at the end of the period </td> <td width="130" valign="top" style="width: 78.1pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; height: 10.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">$              77,476 </td> <td width="129" valign="top" style="width: 77.2pt; padding: 0in 2.35pt 0in 2.35pt; height: 10.35pt; border-top: 0px;"> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: 1.0pt; font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 94%; text-autospace: none; white-space: nowrap;">$            73,771 </td> </tr> </table>   For the three months ended April 3, 2010, the Company recorded approximately $2 million of tax benefit in the income tax provision that was associated with the resolution of a pre-acquisition tax exposure, relating to an acquisition made in 2006. For the three months ended April 4, 2009, the Company recorded approximately $5 million of tax benefit in the income tax provision that was associated with the reversal of a $5 million tax provision, which was originally recorded in 2008, relating to the reorganization of certain foreign legal entities. The recognition of this tax benefit in 2009 was a result of changes in income tax regulations promulgated by the U.S. Treasury in February 2009. The Company also recorded increases of approximately $1 million of other unrecognized tax benefits in the income tax provision in both the three months ended April 3, 2010 and April 4, 2009.   The Company’s uncertain tax positions are taken with respect to income tax return reporting periods beginning after December 31, 1999, which are the periods that generally remain open to income tax audit examination by the concerned income tax authorities.    The Company continuously monitors the lapsing of statutes of limitations on potential tax assessments for related changes in the measurement of unrecognized tax benefits, related net interest and penalties, and deferred tax assets and liabilities. As of April 3, 2010, the Company expects that a tax audit of one of the Company’s U.K. affiliates’ tax returns for 2003, 2004 and 2005 will be settled before December 31, 2010. As of April 3, 2010, the Company does not expect the settlement of this audit to have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements. In addition, as of April 3, 2010, the Company does not expect to record any material changes in the measurement of any other unrecognized tax benefits, related net interest and penalties or deferred tax assets and liabilities due to the settlement of tax audit examinations or to the lapsing of statutes of limitations on potential tax assessments within the next twelve months.   The Company’s effective tax rates for the three months ended April 3, 2010 and April 4, 2009 were 16.2% and 11.9%, respectively. Included in the income tax provision for the three months ended April 3, 2010 is the aforementioned $2 million of tax benefit related to the resolution of a pre-acquisition tax exposure. This tax benefit decreased the Company’s effective tax rate by 1.7 percentage points for the three months ended April 3, 2010. Included in the income tax provision for the three months ended April 4, 2009 is the aforementioned $5 million of tax benefit related to changes in U.S. income tax regulations. This tax benefit decreased the Company’s effective tax rate by 5.5 percentage points for the three months ended April 4, 2009. The remaining difference between the effective tax rates for the three months ended April 3, 2010 as compared to the three months ended April 4, 2009 is primarily attributable to differences in the pre-tax income in jurisdictions with different effective tax rates.   </div></div> 6  Income Taxes   The Company accounts for its uncertain tax return reporting positions in accordance with the accounting standards for income false false false Description containing the entire income tax disclosure. Examples include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information. This element may be used as a single block of text to encapsulate the entire disclosure including data and tables. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph h -Article 4 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 136, 172 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 109 -Paragraph 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 false false 1 2 false UnKnown UnKnown UnKnown false true