Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

Ordinarily, our interim provision for income taxes is determined using an estimate of our annual effective tax rate (“estimated annual effective tax rate method”), and we record any changes affecting the estimated annual effective tax rate in the interim period in which the change occurs, including discrete tax items. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and difficulty forecasting the fiscal year 2020 mix of income by jurisdiction, we determined the estimated annual effective rate method would not provide a reliable estimate of the Company’s overall annual effective tax rate. As such, we have calculated the tax provision using the actual effective rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the effective tax rate was a 5.6% benefit on a pre-tax loss, compared to a 29.2% benefit on a pre-tax loss for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The change in the effective tax rate was primarily driven by the mix of income across jurisdictions, nondeductible impairment charges and a valuation allowance principally related to unrealized capital losses in the first quarter of 2020.

We are subject to taxation in the United States and various other state and foreign jurisdictions. We are under examination by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) for our 2011 to 2013 tax years. During the fourth quarter of 2019, the IRS issued final adjustments related to transfer pricing with our foreign subsidiaries for our 2011 to 2013 audit cycle. The proposed adjustments would increase our U.S. taxable income by $696 million, which would result in federal tax of approximately $244 million subject to interest. We do not agree with the position of the IRS and are formally protesting the IRS position. Subsequent years remain open to examination by the IRS. We do not anticipate a significant impact to our gross unrecognized tax benefits within the next 12 months related to these years.

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, which, along with earlier issued IRS guidance, provides for deferral of certain taxes. The CARES Act, among other things, also contains numerous other provisions which may benefit the Company. We continue to assess the effect of the CARES Act and ongoing government guidance related to COVID-19 that may be issued.