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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2018
Income Taxes [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 5 – Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of provisions for federal, state, and foreign income taxes.  The effective tax rates for the periods ended September 29, 2018 and September 30, 2017 reflect the Company's expected tax rate on reported income from continuing operations before income tax and tax adjustments. The Company operates in a global environment with significant operations in various jurisdictions outside the United States.  Accordingly, the consolidated income tax rate is a composite rate reflecting the Company's earnings and the applicable tax rates in the various jurisdictions where the Company operates.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA") was enacted in the United States.  The TCJA represents sweeping changes in U.S. tax law.  Among the numerous changes in tax law, the TCJA permanently reduced the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 21% beginning in 2018; imposed a one-time transition tax on deferred foreign earnings; established a partial territorial tax system by allowing a 100% dividends received deduction on qualifying dividends paid by foreign subsidiaries; limited deductions for net interest expense; expanded the U.S. taxation of foreign earned income to include "global intangible low-taxed income" ("GILTI") of foreign subsidiaries; and imposed a base erosion and anti-abuse minimum tax ("BEAT").

The TCJA represents the first significant change in U.S. tax law in over 30 years.  As permitted by SAB No. 118, the tax expense recorded in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 due to the enactment of the TCJA was considered "provisional," based on reasonable estimates.  As further described below, after additional analysis was completed in the second and third fiscal quarters of 2018, the Company identified additional amounts available to be repatriated to the U.S. and additional information regarding the foreign taxes payable and recorded additional provisional tax expense to accrue the incremental foreign income taxes and withholding taxes payable to foreign jurisdiction.  The Company is continuing to collect and analyze detailed information about the earnings and profits of its non-U.S. subsidiaries, the related taxes paid, the amounts which could be repatriated, the foreign taxes which may be incurred on repatriation, and the associated impact of these items under the TCJA.  The Company may record further adjustments to refine those estimates during the measurement period, as additional analysis is completed.

The TCJA transitions the U.S. from a worldwide tax system to a partial territorial tax system.  Under previous law, companies could indefinitely defer U.S. income taxation on unremitted foreign earnings. The TCJA imposes a one-time transition tax on deferred foreign earnings of 15.5% for liquid assets and 8% for illiquid assets, payable in defined increments over eight years.  As a result of this requirement, the Company recognized provisional tax expense of $215,558 in 2017, and provisionally expects to pay $184,468, net of estimated applicable foreign tax credits, and after utilization of net operating loss, R&D credits, and foreign tax credit carryforwards. As a result of additional analysis completed in the third fiscal quarter of 2018, the Company accrued additional provisional tax expense of $6,214.  The first installment of $14,400 was paid in the second fiscal quarter of 2018.  These previously deferred foreign earnings may now be repatriated to the United States without additional U.S. federal taxation.  However, any such repatriation could incur withholding and other foreign taxes in the source and intervening foreign jurisdictions, and certain U.S. state taxes.

Due to the changes in taxation of dividends received from foreign subsidiaries, and also because of the need to finance the payment of the transition tax, the Company made the determination during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 that certain unremitted foreign earnings in Israel, Germany, Austria, and France are no longer permanently reinvested, and recorded provisional tax expense of $213,000 to accrue the incremental foreign income taxes and withholding taxes payable to foreign jurisdictions assuming the hypothetical repatriation to the United States of these approximately $1,100,000 of available foreign earnings.  As a result of additional analysis completed in the second and third fiscal quarters of 2018, the Company adjusted the amount of foreign unremitted earnings available from Israel, Germany, Austria, and France to approximately $1,200,000, identified additional information regarding the foreign taxes payable, and accrued additional provisional tax expense of $19,282.

The Company repatriated approximately $274,000 and approximately $450,000 to the United States, and paid withholding and foreign taxes of $92,093 and $64,674 in the second and third fiscal quarters of 2018, respectively.  Substantially all of the amounts repatriated in the second fiscal quarter were used to reduce the outstanding balance of the credit facility (see Note 6) and to repay certain intercompany indebtedness.  A portion of the amounts repatriated in the third fiscal quarter were used to eliminate the remaining outstanding balance of the credit facility.

 
After completing these phases of cash repatriation, there is approximately $300,000 of unremitted foreign earnings that the Company has deemed not permanently reinvested and thus has accrued foreign withholding and other taxes.   The Company expects to repatriate these remaining amounts at a measured pace over several years, and may decide to ultimately not repatriate some of these amounts. 
 
The Company's effective tax rate for the periods ended September 29, 2018 was negatively impacted by certain provisions of the TCJA.  The provisions of the TCJA are interrelated and the impact of any specific provision cannot be isolated. The Company operates at a pre-tax loss in the U.S. and the reduction in the federal tax rate reduces the tax benefit recorded.  In addition, the inclusion of GILTI income and the limitation on the deductibility of interest expense increased the effective tax rate. The Company has elected to account for GILTI tax in the period in which it is incurred, and therefore did not provide any deferred taxes in the consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2017.  BEAT could potentially increase the Company's U.S. federal income tax by disallowing certain otherwise deductible payments from the U.S. to non-U.S. subsidiaries and imposing a minimum tax if greater than the regular tax.  The Company expects to be subject to BEAT in 2018 and future periods, but BEAT did not have a material impact on the Company's effective tax rate for the periods ended September 29, 2018.

The Company's repurchase of a portion of the outstanding convertible debentures in the second fiscal quarter of 2018 (see Note 6) reduced the Company's expected full year 2018 tax rate.

The Company recognized a tax benefit on the pre-tax loss on early extinguishment of debt.  The Company also recognized a tax benefit of $33,963 in the second fiscal quarter of 2018 resulting from the extinguishment, reflecting the reduction in deferred tax liabilities related to the special tax attributes of the debentures.

Income tax expense for the fiscal quarter and nine fiscal months ended September 29, 2018, includes tax expense of $680 and tax benefits of $7,010 for the periodic remeasurement of the deferred tax liability recorded for the foreign taxes associated with the cash repatriation program described above.

Income tax expense for the fiscal quarter and nine fiscal months ended September 30, 2017 included a tax benefit of $892 and $3,100 for the periodic remeasurement of the deferred tax liability recorded for the cash repatriation program that was terminated as a result of the enactment of the TCJA.

During the nine fiscal months ended September 29, 2018, the liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits increased by $3,486 on a net basis, due to increases for tax positions taken in the current period and interest, offset by payments and foreign currency effects.