Income Taxes



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016	2015
	(In percentages)
Effective income tax rate	19	24

In 2015, the Company established a centralized European headquarters for the purpose of improving the operational efficiencies and profitability of its European operations and certain global product lines. These activities have a direct impact on the Company's mix of earnings and product flows and will result in both favorable and unfavorable tax impacts in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates.

The lower effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2016 is primarily due to decreases in losses that provide no tax benefit and favorable changes in the mix of jurisdictional earnings partially attributable to the implementation of the Company's centralized European headquarters.

For the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company's uncertain tax positions increased $11 million, primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations.

The Company's US tax returns for the years 2009 through 2012 are currently under audit by the US Internal Revenue Service and certain of the Company's subsidiaries are under audit in jurisdictions outside of the US. The Company does not expect any material changes in the unrecognized tax benefits within the next twelve months related to the settlement of one or more of these audits or lapse of applicable statutes of limitations.