Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Mar. 27, 2020


The Company’s effective tax rates from continuing operations for the three months ended March 27, 2020 and March 29, 2019 were 34.6% and (7.1)%, respectively. The Company’s effective tax rates from continuing operations for the six months ended March 27, 2020 and March 29, 2019 were 9.5% and 7.3%, respectively. The comparatively higher quarterly tax rate was primarily due to a $37.4 million tax benefit in the three months ended March 29, 2019 for remeasurement of the Company's deferred tax liability for unremitted earnings to account for the change in expected manner of recovery due to the ECR divestiture. For the three months ended March 27, 2020, the effective tax rate was impacted by $5.8 million from amended returns for foreign tax credits and research and development credits, a $4.1 million benefit related to an India withholding tax rate change and benefits from an Internal Revenue Code section 179D energy credit. The Company’s effective tax rate from continuing operations for the six months ended March 27, 2020 was impacted by the quarterly tax benefit items noted above as well as impacts from a $3.7 million favorable settlement with the Indian Revenue Services in the first quarter fiscal 2020.

See Note 7- Sale of Energy, Chemicals and Resources ("ECR") Business for further information on the Company's discontinued operations reporting for the sale of the ECR business.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was enacted in the United States and significantly revised the U.S. corporate income tax laws. Given the significance of the legislation, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (SAB 118), which allowed registrants to record provisional amounts during a one year “measurement period” like that used when accounting for business combinations. As of December 22, 2018, we completed our accounting for the tax effects of the enactment of the Act. For the deferred tax balances, we remeasured the U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is generally 21%. The Company’s revised remeasurement resulted in cumulative charges to income tax expense of $144.4 million for the measurement period. The Act called for a one-time tax on deemed repatriation of foreign earnings. This one-time transition tax was based on our total post-1986 earnings and profits (E&P) of certain of our foreign subsidiaries. We recorded $14.3 million in cumulative transition taxes during the measurement period, although the transition tax was expected to be offset by foreign tax credits in the future, resulting in no additional cash tax liability. In addition, the Company recorded $104.2 million in cumulative valuation expense charges during the measurement period with respect to certain foreign tax credit deferred tax assets as a result of the Act and CH2M integration.

The amount of income taxes the Company pays is subject to ongoing audits by tax jurisdictions around the world. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to examination by tax authorities throughout the world, including such major jurisdictions as Australia, Canada, India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Our estimate of the potential outcome of any uncertain tax issue is subject to our assessment of the relevant risks, facts, and circumstances existing at the time. The Company believes that it has adequately provided for reasonably foreseeable outcomes related to these matters. However, future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, which may impact our effective tax rate.