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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

(10) Income Taxes

 

Our effective income tax rate was 22.8% for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with 33.9% for the three months ended March 31, 2017.  The decrease in the effective tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with the same period in 2017, was primarily due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA-17”), which reduced the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018, partially offset by a $5 million increase in our provision for income taxes due to an unfavorable change resulting from our January 1, 2017 adoption of ASU 2016-09,“Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting”, which decreased our provision for income taxes by $2 million during the first quarter of 2018 as compared to $7 million during the first quarter 2017.

 

The TCJA-17 enacted on December 22, 2017 makes broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code, including, but not limited to, (1) reducing the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%; (2) requiring companies to pay a one-time transition tax on certain unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries; (3) generally eliminating U.S. federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries; (4) requiring a current inclusion in U.S. federal taxable income of certain earnings of controlled foreign corporations through the implementation of a territorial tax system; and (5) creating a new limitation on deductible interest expense.  Due to the complexities involved in accounting for the TCJA-17, the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118"), which allows a measurement period of up to one year after the enactment date of the TCJA-17 to finalize the recording of the related tax impacts.  We applied the guidance in SAB 118 and at December 31, 2017, recorded provisional estimates to re-measure our deferred taxes using the new 21% rate ($30 million tax benefit) and to record an estimated transition tax ($11.3 million expense).  During the three months ended March 31, 2018, we have not made any additional measurement period adjustments related to the provisional estimates recorded at December 31, 2017.  However, we are continuing to gather additional information to complete our accounting for these items and expect to complete our accounting within the prescribed measurement period.

 

The global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) provisions from the TCJA-17 require the inclusion of the earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries in excess of an acceptable rate of return on certain assets of the respective subsidiaries in our U.S. tax return for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.  We recorded an estimate in our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  Due to the complexities around the calculation we have not recorded any provisional deferred tax effects related to the GILTI tax and will not make an accounting policy election at this time with respect to deferred tax effects of GILTI for our consolidated financial statements three months ended March 31, 2018.

 

As of January 1, 2018, our unrecognized tax benefits were approximately $1 million. The amount, if recognized, that would favorably affect the effective tax rate is approximately $1 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, changes to the estimated liabilities for uncertain tax positions (including accrued interest) relating to tax positions taken during prior and current periods did not have a material impact on our financial statements.

 

We recognize accrued interest and penalties associated with uncertain tax positions as part of the tax provision. As of March 31, 2018, we have less than $1 million of accrued interest and penalties. The U.S. federal statute of limitations remains open for 2014 and subsequent years. Foreign and U.S. state and local jurisdictions have statutes of limitations generally ranging from 3 to 4 years. The statute of limitations on certain jurisdictions could expire within the next twelve months.  It is reasonably possible that the amount of uncertain tax benefits will change during the next 12 months, however, it is anticipated that any such change, if it were to occur, would not have a material impact on our results of operations.

 

We operate in multiple jurisdictions with varying tax laws. We are subject to audits by any of these taxing authorities. Our tax returns have been examined by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) through the year ended December 31, 2006. We believe that adequate accruals have been provided for federal, foreign and state taxes.