Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 9. Income Taxes

     Income taxes have been provided for based upon the tax laws and rates in countries in which our operations are conducted and income is earned. The Company received an assurance from the Bermuda Minister of Finance that it would be exempted from local income, withholding and capital gains taxes until March 2035. This date was recently extended by the Government of Bermuda from March 2016. Consequently, the provision for income taxes recorded relates to income earned by certain subsidiaries of the Company which are located in, or earn income in, jurisdictions that impose income taxes, primarily the United States and Ireland.

     The sources of income from continuing operations before income taxes for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010 and 2011 were as follows:

	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
	September 30,				September 30,
	2010		2011		2010		2011
U.S. operations	$	218	$	372	$	1,240	$	1,195
Non-U.S. operations		8,504		23,530		48,350		93,497
Total	$	8,722	$	23,902	$	49,590	$	94,692

     All of our aircraft-owning subsidiaries that are recognized as corporations for U.S. tax purposes are non-U.S. corporations. These non-U.S. subsidiaries generally earn income from sources outside the United States and typically are not subject to U.S. federal, state or local income taxes unless they operate within the U.S., in which case they may be subject to federal, state and local income taxes. We also have a U.S-based subsidiary which provides management services to our non-U.S. subsidiaries and is subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes.

     Differences between statutory income tax rates and our effective income tax rates applied to pre-tax income consisted of the following:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2010			2011			2010			2011
Notional U.S. federal income tax expense at the statutory rate	$	3,053		$	8,365		$	17,357		$	33,142
U.S. state and local income tax, net		17			20			78			68
Non-U.S. operations:
Bermuda		135			(3,597	)		(8,035	)		(19,832	)
Ireland		(3,065	)		(1,246	)		(6,269	)		(4,167	)
Other low tax jurisdictions		5			(2,097	)		(14	)		(3,740	)
Non-deductible expenses in the U.S.		135			18			1,025			806
Other		(127	)		(226	)		(139	)		(236	)
Provision for income taxes	$	153		$	1,237		$	4,003		$	6,041