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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 29, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
Our effective tax rate for the thirteen weeks ended March 29, 2014 was 43.4% compared to 34.6% for the thirteen weeks ended March 30, 2013. Under U.S. accounting rules for income taxes, quarterly effective tax rates may vary significantly depending on the actual operating results in the various tax jurisdictions, as well as changes in the valuation allowance related to the expected recovery of deferred tax assets. Our effective tax rate was negatively impacted by approximately 13 percentage points as a result of a large amount of reorganization costs recorded in the thirteen weeks ended March 29, 2014 in jurisdictions under valuation allowance or where the cost is not deductible.
Partially offsetting the negative impact noted above, the thirteen weeks ended March 29, 2014 also included net discrete benefits of approximately $1,991, or 4.5 percentage points of the effective tax rate, which primarily related to positive adjustments to certain deferred tax asset balances. The thirteen weeks ended March 30, 2013 included net discrete benefits of approximately $1,184, or 1.6 percentage points of the effective tax rate due to the release of previously recorded valuation allowances against state net operating losses.
Our effective tax rate differed from the U.S. federal statutory rate of 35% during these periods primarily due to the items noted above, as well as the relative mix of earnings or losses within the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, such as: (a) earnings in lower-tax jurisdictions for which no U.S. taxes have been provided because such earnings are planned to be reinvested indefinitely outside the United States; (b) losses in certain jurisdictions in which we are not able to record a tax benefit; and (c) changes in the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets.
At March 29, 2014, we had gross unrecognized tax benefits of $35,679 compared to $35,398 at December 28, 2013, representing a net increase of $281 during the thirteen weeks ended March 29, 2014. Substantially all of the gross unrecognized tax benefits, if recognized, would impact our effective tax rate in the period of recognition.
We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. In addition to the gross unrecognized tax benefits identified above, the interest and penalties recorded to date by us totaled $7,814 and $7,333 at March 29, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively.
Our future effective tax rate will continue to be affected by changes in the relative mix of taxable income and losses in the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets, or changes in tax laws or interpretations thereof. In addition, our income tax returns are subject to continuous examination by the IRS and other tax authorities. The IRS has concluded its examinations of tax years prior to tax year 2010. In 2013, the IRS initiated its examination of tax years 2010 to 2011. It is possible that within the next twelve months, ongoing tax examinations in the United States and several of our foreign jurisdictions may be resolved, that new tax exams may commence and that other issues may be effectively settled. However, we do not expect our assessment of unrecognized tax benefits to change significantly over that time.