Note 5 – Income Taxes

Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes and noncontrolling interests consists of the following components:

	Years ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013

Domestic	$	(40,929	)	$	(50,106	)	$	(26,065	)
Foreign		115,669			217,249			202,470
	$	74,740		$	167,143		$	176,405

Significant components of income taxes are as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2015		2014			2013

Current:
Federal	$	290	$	(27,031	)	$	(603	)
State and local		163		386			280
Foreign		63,573		60,282			51,225
		64,026		33,637			50,902
Deferred:
Federal		78,933		7,999			2,215
State and local		311		204			92
Foreign		39,203		7,460			(573	)
		118,447		15,663			1,734
Total income tax expense	$	182,473	$	49,300		$	52,636

Note 5 – Income Taxes (continued)

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

	December 31,
	2015			2014

Deferred tax assets:
Pension and other retiree obligations	$	40,322		$	43,393
Inventories		7,848			8,013
Net operating loss carryforwards		183,298			198,677
Tax credit carryforwards		23,512			25,046
Other accruals and reserves		35,176			32,376
Total gross deferred tax assets		290,156			307,505
Less valuation allowance		(167,932	)		(186,614	)
		122,224			120,891
Deferred tax liabilities:
Tax over book depreciation		(4,038	)		(10,257	)
Intangible assets other than goodwill		(3,922	)		(20,507	)
Earnings not permanently reinvested		(162,667	)		(25,334	)
Convertible debentures		(188,978	)		(175,935	)
Other - net		(5,323	)		(3,590	)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities		(364,928	)		(235,623	)

Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	(242,704	)	$	(114,732	)

The Company makes significant judgments regarding the realizability of its deferred tax assets (principally net operating losses). The carrying value of deferred tax assets is based on the Company's assessment that it is more likely than not that the Company will realize these assets after consideration of all available positive and negative evidence.

A reconciliation of income tax expense at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to actual income tax provision is as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013

Tax at statutory rate	$	26,159		$	58,500		$	61,742
State income taxes, net of U.S. federal tax benefit		309			384			242
Effect of foreign operations		(13,212	)		(27,372	)		(18,696	)
Tax on earnings not permanently reinvested		163,699			25,728			-
Unrecognized tax benefits		(1,353	)		(21,603	)		2,862
Change in valuation allowance on non-U.S. deferred tax assets		(8,888	)		-			(285	)
Foreign income taxable in the U.S.		7,025			13,499			11,961
Tax effect of impairment charges		8,305			-			-
Effect of statutory rate changes on deferred tax assets		(408	)		226			(2,867	)
Other		837			(62	)		(2,323	)
Total income tax expense	$	182,473		$	49,300		$	52,636

Note 5 – Income Taxes (continued)

Income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 includes certain discrete tax items for changes in uncertain tax positions, valuation allowances, tax rates, and other related items. These items total $152,437, $1,228 (tax benefit), and $4,197 (tax benefit) in 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

For the year ended December 31, 2015, the discrete items include $163,954 of expense recorded in the fourth fiscal quarter primarily to repatriate $300,000 of foreign earnings to the United States, following an evaluation of the Company's anticipated domestic cash needs over the next several years and the Company's most efficient use of liquidity, and with consideration of the amount of cash that can be repatriated to the U.S. efficiently with lesser withholding taxes in foreign jurisdictions. It also includes $11,517 (tax benefit) for changes in uncertain tax positions, the release of valuation allowances, and the effect of statutory tax rate changes on deferred taxes.

For the year ended December 31, 2014, the discrete items include a $1,228 benefit recorded in the fourth fiscal quarter due to the enactment of The Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014. The discrete items also include benefits upon the completion of certain tax examinations and lapses in the statute of limitations, offset by additional tax expenses for expected repatriation of cash and profits of non-U.S. subsidiaries to the United States, primarily to repay amounts borrowed on the revolving credit facility to provide future flexibility given the legal entity and the financial structure utilized for the Capella acquisition. The latter two items netted to an immaterial amount.

For the year ended December 31, 2013, the discrete items include a $2,867 benefit recorded in the third fiscal quarter due to a new tax law enacted in Israel in July 2013 which effectively increases the corporate income tax rate on certain types of income earned after January 1, 2014, and, therefore, increases the deferred tax assets, and a $1,330 benefit recorded in the first fiscal quarter due to the retroactive enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, signed into law on January 2, 2013.

At December 31, 2015, the Company had the following significant net operating loss carryforwards for tax purposes:

			Expires

Austria	$	14,373	No expiration
Belgium		155,397	No expiration
Brazil		10,342	No expiration
Germany		38,612	No expiration
Israel		44,625	No expiration
Netherlands		23,141		2016 - 2024
The Republic of China (Taiwan)		6,129		2024 - 2025
United States		72,175		2033 - 2035

California		54,646		2016 - 2035
Pennsylvania		729,897		2018 - 2035

Approximately $57,603 of the carryforwards in Belgium resulted from the Company's acquisition of BCcomponents in 2002. Valuation allowances of $19,579 and $21,833, as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, have been recorded through goodwill for these acquired net operating losses.

At December 31, 2015, the Company had the following significant tax credit carryforwards available:

			Expires

U.S. Foreign Tax Credit	$	11,093		2020 - 2022
California Research Credit		11,415	No expiration

Note 5 – Income Taxes (continued)

At December 31, 2015, no provision has been made for U.S. federal and state income taxes on approximately $2,382,749 of foreign earnings, which are deemed to be reinvested outside of the United States indefinitely. Upon distribution of those earnings in the form of dividends or otherwise, the Company would be subject to U.S. income taxes (subject to an adjustment for foreign tax credits), state income taxes, incremental foreign income taxes, and withholding taxes payable to various foreign countries. Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred U.S. income tax liability is not practicable because of the complexities associated with its hypothetical calculation.

During the fourth fiscal quarter of 2015, the Company recognized income tax expense, including U.S. federal and state income taxes, incremental foreign income taxes, and withholding taxes payable to foreign jurisdictions, on $300,000 of foreign earnings, (including $20,000 of 2015 earnings and $280,000 of earnings from prior periods). This tax expense was recognized in 2015 following an evaluation of the Company's anticipated domestic cash needs over the next several years and the Company's most efficient use of liquidity, and with consideration of the amount of cash that can be repatriated to the U.S. efficiently with lesser withholding taxes in foreign jurisdictions.

During 2014, the Company recognized income tax expense on foreign earnings in anticipation of a repatriation intended to pay $53,000 of borrowings on its revolving credit facility used for the Capella acquisition (see Note 2). The tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2014 included all U.S. federal and state income taxes, incremental foreign income taxes, and withholding taxes payable to foreign jurisdictions. That repatriation was completed in 2015.

Net income taxes paid were $49,301, $62,051, and $44,757 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

See Note 19 for a discussion of the tax-related uncertainties for the pre-spin-off period of Vishay Precision Group, Inc. ("VPG"), which was spun off on July 6, 2010.

Note 5 – Income Taxes (continued)

The following table summarizes changes in the liabilities associated with unrecognized tax benefits:

	Years ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013

Balance at beginning of year	$	26,583		$	45,877		$	51,771
Addition based on tax positions related to the current year		1,439			1,641			-
Addition based on tax positions related to prior years		1,894			6,484			4,015
Currency translation adjustments		(1,370	)		(1,387	)		310
Reduction based on tax positions related to prior years		-			-			(2,054	)
Reduction for settlements		(4,879	)		(3,556	)		(7,316	)
Reduction for lapses of statute of limitation		(140	)		(22,476	)		(849	)
Balance at end of year	$	23,527		$	26,583		$	45,877

All of the unrecognized tax benefits of $23,527 and $26,583, as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, would reduce the effective tax rate if recognized.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. At December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company had accrued interest and penalties related to the unrecognized tax benefits of $3,887 and $3,104, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, the Company recognized $785, $1,839, and $2,218, respectively, in interest and penalties.

The Company and its subsidiaries file U.S. federal income tax returns, as well as tax returns in multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. During the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, certain tax examinations were completed and certain statutes of limitations lapsed. The tax provision for those years includes adjustments related to the resolution of these matters, as reflected in the table above. In 2014, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service concluded its examination of Vishay's U.S. federal tax returns through the 2011 tax year. The tax returns of other non-U.S. subsidiaries which are currently under examination include Germany (2009 through 2012), India (2004 through 2012), and Israel (2009 through 2012). The Company and its subsidiaries also file income tax returns in other taxing jurisdictions in the U.S. and around the world, many of which are still open to examinations.

The timing of the resolution of income tax examinations is highly uncertain, as are the amounts and timing of tax payments that result from such examinations. These events could cause large fluctuations in the balance sheet classification of current and non-current unrecognized tax benefits. The Company believes that in the next 12 months it is reasonably possible that certain income tax examinations will conclude or the statutes of limitation on certain income tax periods open to examination will expire, or both. Given the uncertainties described above, the Company can only determine an estimate of potential decreases in unrecognized tax benefits ranging from $110 to $5,240.