Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

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/(losses) of affiliates and income taxes was 26.6% and 47.9% for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and 1.4% and 26.0% for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

For the three months ended September 30, 2019, when compared to 2018, the decrease in the effective income tax rate was primarily due to a one-time charge of $12.5 million for the transition tax (in connection with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) which was recorded in the prior year.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, when compared to 2018, the decrease in the effective income tax rate was primarily due to a $15.3 million discrete benefit recorded during the current year for the release of state tax reserves and a prior year one-time charge of $12.5 million for the transition tax.

We are currently under examination for the years 2010 through 2012 and 2016, by the US Internal Revenue Service, our primary taxing authority, and for other years by various state taxing authorities. It is reasonably possible the amount of the unrecognized benefits with respect to certain unrecognized tax positions could significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months and have an impact on our net income. Currently, we expect expiration of statutes of limitations, within the next twelve months, for which we have tax reserves recorded of approximately $0.9 million as of September 30, 2019.