Income taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

10. Income taxes

The income tax benefit and effective income tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:


	Three months ended March 31,
(dollars in millions)	2020			2019
Income tax benefit	$	0.3		$	23.3
Effective income tax rate	(0.5)		%	25.0		%

A discrete tax benefit of $9.0 million was included in the $0.3 million tax benefit, primarily attributable to the utilization of previously disallowed US interest expense driven by the enactment of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”). The Company’s effective income tax rate without discrete items was 30.0%, higher than the US federal statutory rate of 21.0% primarily due to the impact of the higher tax rates in foreign jurisdictions, non-deductible expenses and US state income taxes.

For the prior year quarter, a discrete tax benefit of $10.2 million, substantially attributable to the indirect effects of the Nexeo Plastics sale, was included in the $23.3 million tax benefit. The Company’s effective income tax rate without discrete items was 42.6%, higher than the US federal statutory rate of 21.0%. This is primarily due to the impact of the Nexeo related

acquisition and integration costs, along with state taxes, foreign rate differential, non-deductible compensation and other expenses, and an increase in the valuation allowance on certain income tax attributes.