INCOME TAXES

6 Months Ended

Apr. 28, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

INCOME TAXES

The Company's tax provision is determined using an estimated annual effective tax rate and adjusted for discrete taxable events that may occur during the quarter. The effects of tax legislation are recognized in the period in which the law is enacted. The deferred tax assets and liabilities are remeasured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years the related temporary differences are anticipated to reverse.

On December 22, 2017, the United States (U.S.) enacted comprehensive tax legislation into law, H.R. 1, commonly referred to as the Tax Act. Except for certain provisions, the Tax Act is effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. As a fiscal year U.S. taxpayer, the majority of the provisions, such as eliminating the domestic manufacturing deduction, creating new taxes on certain foreign sourced income, and introducing new limitations on certain business deductions, apply to the Company in fiscal 2019. In addition, for fiscal 2019 and effective in the first quarter, the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate was reduced from a blended rate of 23.4 percent for fiscal 2018, to 21.0 percent in fiscal 2019 and beyond.

The Company's effective tax rate for the second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2019 was 11.1 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively, compared to 20.0 percent and 10.2 percent for the respective periods last year. The lower effective tax rate in the current quarter resulted from the net tax benefits generated from the CytoSport divestiture and equity based compensation. The Company expects a full-year effective tax rate between 17.5 percent and 19.5 percent for fiscal 2019.

In March 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-05, Income Taxes: Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (Topic 740), which provides guidance for companies related to the Tax Act. This ASU allows for a measurement period of up to one year after the enactment date of the Tax Act to finalize the recording of the related tax impacts. Based on current interpretation of the Tax Act, the Company made reasonable estimates to record provisional adjustments during fiscal 2018, as described above. The Company continued to evaluate such amounts within the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and determined no adjustments were required within the remaining portion of the measurement period. As of January 27, 2019, the Company has completed the accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act.

During fiscal 2018, the Company provisionally recorded the transition tax on its foreign earnings. Those foreign earnings have been deemed repatriated for U.S. federal tax purposes. The Company maintains all earnings are permanently reinvested. Accordingly, no additional income taxes have been provided for withholding tax, state tax, or other taxes.

The amount of unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties, is recorded in other long-term liabilities.  If recognized as of April 28, 2019, and April 29, 2018, $27.7 million and $24.6 million, respectively, would impact the Company’s effective tax rate.  The Company includes accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. Interest and penalties included in income tax expense was immaterial for the second quarter and first six months of fiscal 2019, compared to $0.2 million and $0.4 million for the respective periods in fiscal 2018. The amount of accrued interest and penalties at April 28, 2019, and April 29, 2018, associated with unrecognized tax benefits was $6.7 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

The Company is regularly audited by federal and state taxing authorities.  The United States Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) concluded its examination of fiscal 2017 in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company has elected to participate in the Compliance Assurance Process (CAP) for fiscal years 2018 through 2020.  The objective of CAP is to contemporaneously work with the I.R.S. to achieve federal tax compliance and resolve all or most of the issues prior to filing of the tax return.  The Company may elect to continue participating in CAP for future tax years. The Company may withdraw from the program at any time.

The Company is in various stages of audit by several state taxing authorities on a variety of fiscal years, as far back as 2011.  While it is reasonably possible that one or more of these audits may be completed within the next 12 months and the related unrecognized tax benefits may change, based on the status of the examinations it is not possible to reasonably estimate the effect of any amount of such change to previously recorded uncertain tax positions.