The income tax rate was 19.4% and 16.2% for the first six months of fiscal 2014 and 2013, respectively. In the first six months of fiscal 2014, the Company recognized approximately $1.1 million of discrete tax benefits principally related to the following items. The first item was approximately $0.6 million of tax benefits due to the release of reserves due to the expiration of a statute of limitations. The second item was a $0.5 million reduction of net deferred income tax liabilities as a result of the enactment of tax laws reducing the U.K. statutory income tax rate. In the first six months of fiscal 2013, the Company recognized $3.6 million of discrete tax benefits principally related to the following items. The first item was approximately $1.5 million of tax benefits due to the retroactive extension of the U.S. federal research and experimentation credits. The second item was approximately $2.3 million of tax benefits related to the settlement of U.S. and foreign tax examinations. The income tax rate differed from the statutory rate in the first six months of fiscal 2014 and 2013, as both years benefited from various tax credits and certain foreign interest expense deductions.

It is reasonably possible that within the next twelve months approximately $1.6 million of tax benefits that are currently unrecognized could be recognized as a result of settlement of examinations and/or the expiration of a statute of limitations.