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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes

The effective income tax rate for income taxes as a percentage of income from continuing operations before equity in earnings of affiliates and income taxes was 36.4% and 30.8% for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

For the three months ended March 31, 2016 when compared to 2015, the increase in the effective income tax rates was primarily attributable to a prior year non-recurring favorable discrete item, which related to an audit settlement for an IRS exam associated with pre-acquisition exposures of Marshall & Swift/Boeckh and DataQuick Information Systems.

Income taxes included in equity in earnings of affiliates were $0.2 million and $2.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. For the purpose of segment reporting, these amounts are included in corporate and therefore not reflected in our reportable segments.

We are currently under examination for the years 2005 to 2011 by the U.S. federal and various state taxing authorities. It is reasonably possible the amount of unrecognized tax benefit with respect to certain unrecognized tax positions could significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months. We estimate the unrecognized tax benefit could decrease by up to $23.7 million within the next twelve months. The estimated change is primarily related to IRS audits, subject to the FAFC indemnification, and will have no impact to net income. See Note 11 - Litigation and Regulatory Contingencies for further discussion on FAFC.