Income Taxes

The Corporation's tax provision for interim periods is determined using an estimate of its annual effective tax rate, adjusted for discrete items. The following table summarizes the Corporation's income tax provision (dollars in thousands):



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 29, 2018			September 30, 2017			September 29, 2018			September 30, 2017
Income before income taxes	$	51,104		$	55,955		$	76,997		$	83,541
Income taxes	$	11,197		$	18,624		$	16,033		$	27,573
Effective tax rate	21.9		%	33.3		%	20.8		%	33.0		%

The Corporation's effective tax rate was lower in the three and nine months ended September 29, 2018 compared to the same periods last year primarily due to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017 (the "Act"). An additional driver of the change in the effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2018 was the release of a valuation allowance for certain foreign jurisdictions.

On December 22, 2017, the Act was signed into law, making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Changes include, but are not limited to, a federal corporate tax rate decrease from 35 percent to 21 percent effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the transition of U.S. international taxation from a worldwide tax system to a territorial system, and a one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of cumulative foreign earnings as of December 31, 2017.

Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") was issued to address the application of U.S. GAAP in the reporting period that includes December 22, 2017 in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Act. In accordance with SAB 118, the Corporation determined as of the end of fiscal 2017, the $45.4 million of the deferred tax benefit recorded in connection with the remeasurement of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities and the $0.1 million of current tax expense recorded in connection with the transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings was a provisional amount and a reasonable estimate as of December 30, 2017. Additional work was necessary to complete a more detailed analysis of historical foreign earnings as well as potential correlative adjustments. Subsequent adjustments to these amounts, which were not material, were recorded to current tax expense in the third quarter of 2018 when the analysis was completed.

During the third quarter of 2018, the 2017 federal income tax return was completed resulting in a $0.5 million detriment related to the reversal of net deferred tax liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future as a result of tax reform rate changes. The Corporation finalized its calculation of the full impact of the Act on its 2017 federal income tax return during the third quarter of 2018.