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INCOME TAXES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES
INCOME TAXES
For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized income tax expense of $7.6 and $9.1 and had an effective tax rate of 7.0% and 16.6%, respectively. The lower effective tax rate in 2018 is primarily due to tax benefits of $21.6 from the reversal of a valuation allowance on German deferred tax assets and $4.5 from a reduction to the provisional one-time tax charge associated with the 2017 U.S. tax reform.
Our effective tax rate in 2018 includes the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) that was approved by Congress on December 20, 2017 and signed into law by the U.S. President on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act significantly changes the U.S. corporate income tax rules most of which are effective January 1, 2018. On December 22, 2017 the SEC issued guidance under Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118”) to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act and therefore records provisional amounts under the Tax Act. The ultimate impact of the Tax Act may differ from these provisional amounts, possibly materially, due to, among other things, additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions a company has made, additional regulatory guidance that may be issued, and actions a company may take as a result of the Tax Act.
Quantifying the impact of the Tax Act is subject to guidance and regulations to be issued by the U.S. Treasury and possible changes to state tax laws. The Company is currently unable to compute with certainty the impact of the Tax Act on its financial statements. The Company has performed provisional computations of the impact of the Tax Act and has recorded the provisional amounts in its 2017 financial statements. The Company has updated some of these provisional computations to account for further guidance from the United States Treasury Department. SAB 118 provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from the Tax Act enactment date.
The Tax Act imposed a one-time tax on accumulated earnings of foreign subsidiaries as of December 31, 2017. In its 2017 financial statements, the Company recognized the provisional tax impacts resulting from the Tax Act. The Company has updated the provisional one-time tax amount to $53.5 as compared to $58.0 reported in December 31, 2017 financial statements.
The Company intends to distribute most earnings of its foreign subsidiaries to the U.S. in future years, and therefore is no longer asserting permanent reinvestment of these earnings outside the U.S. Further, the Company will provide for any U.S. state and foreign taxes on distributions of future earnings of its foreign subsidiaries as these earnings will not be considered permanently reinvested in the foreign countries.
The Company has performed provisional computations and has not provided deferred taxes on its remaining excess of financial reporting over tax bases of investments in its foreign subsidiaries that it intends to permanently reinvest outside the U.S. The Company anticipates that accumulated foreign earnings of $1.2 billion and future earnings of its foreign subsidiaries that are considered not permanently reinvested will be sufficient to meet its U.S. cash needs. In the event additional foreign funds are needed to support U.S. operations, and if U.S. tax has not already been previously provided, we would be required to accrue and pay additional U.S. and foreign taxes.
The Tax Act limits the deductibility of compensation for certain senior officers. The Company has determined that certain deferred tax assets associated with officer compensation may not be deductible. The Company has therefore written off a provisional amount of $2.8 of deferred tax assets relating to such compensation.
The Tax Act adopts a new rule “Global Intangible Low Taxed Income” (GILTI) that requires certain income of controlled foreign corporations to be subject to U.S. taxation. We are allowed under ASC 740 to make an accounting policy choice of either (1) treating taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI as a current period expense when incurred or (2) factoring such amounts into the Company’s measurement of its deferred taxes. Because of the complexity of these rules, and anticipated guidance from U.S. Treasury we will continue to evaluate the impact on the Company’s financial statements. Therefore, we have not recorded any deferred taxes related to GILTI and have not made a policy decision regarding whether to record deferred taxes on GILTI.
The Company operates in various tax jurisdictions and is subject to examination by tax authorities in these jurisdictions. The Company is currently under examination in several jurisdictions including Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, the U.S. and Venezuela. The estimated tax liability calculation for unrecognized tax benefits considers uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws and regulations in various tax jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of some uncertainties, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment that is materially different from the current estimate of the unrecognized tax benefit. Over the next 12 months, the net amount of the tax liability for unrecognized tax benefits in foreign and domestic jurisdictions could change by approximately $16 due to changes in audit status, expiration of statutes of limitations and other events. In addition, the settlement of any future examinations relating to the 2011 and prior tax years could result in changes in amounts attributable to the Company under its Tax Matters Agreement with Exelis Inc. and Xylem Inc. relating to the Company’s 2011 spin-off of those businesses.