Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

Our effective income tax rates were (350.6)% and 0.8% for the nine and three months ended September 30, 2019 and 6.9% and (10.8)% for the same periods in the prior year. The tax rates in 2019 and 2018 reflect the U.S. federal tax rate of 21% reduced by tax benefits associated with intangible income derived from serving non-U.S. markets, research and development tax credits and excess tax benefits related to share-based payments. Additionally, in the third quarter of 2018, $412 of discrete tax benefits were recorded related to the settlement of the 2013-2014 federal tax audit. The year to date tax rate variance is primarily due to lower pre-tax income in 2019, resulting in larger 2019 discrete tax rate benefits.

Federal income tax audits have been settled for all years prior to 2015. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began the 2015-2017 federal tax audit in the first quarter of 2019. We are also subject to examination in major state and international jurisdictions for the 2001-2017 tax years. We believe appropriate provisions for all outstanding tax issues have been made for all jurisdictions and all open years.

Audit outcomes and the timing of audit settlements are subject to significant uncertainty. It is reasonably possible that within the next 12 months unrecognized tax benefits related to state matters under audit may decrease by up to $480 based on current estimates.