Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 27, 2018

4. Income Taxes

The Company’s effective income tax rate, adjusted for earnings (losses) from noncontrolling interests, for the 13 and 39 weeks ended September 27, 2018 was 13.9% and 21.5%, respectively, and was 38.6% and 37.8% for the 13 and 39 weeks ended September 28, 2017, respectively. The

decrease in the Company’s effective income tax rate was primarily the result of the reduction in the federal tax rate from

35% to 21%

resulting from the December 22, 2017 signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Additionally, during the 39 weeks ended September 27, 2018, the Company recorded income tax benefits related to excess tax benefits on share-based compensation as well as for reductions in deferred tax liabilities related to tax accounting method changes the Company made subsequent to the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. The Company does not include the income tax expense or benefit related to the net earnings or loss attributable to noncontrolling interest in its income tax expense as the entities are considered pass-through entities and, as such, the income tax expense or benefit is attributable to its owners.

During the fiscal year ended December 28, 2017, the Company was able to make a reasonable estimate of the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, including the reduction in the corporate tax rate and the provisions related to executive compensation and 100% bonus depreciation on qualifying property. However, given the Act’s broad and complex changes, further clarification, interpretation and regulatory guidance could affect the assumptions the Company used in making its reasonable estimate. Following the guidance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, any adjustments to the Company's estimate will be reported as a component of income tax expense and disclosed in the period when any such adjustments have been determined within the one-year measurement period. During the 39 weeks ended September 27, 2018, the Company did not make any adjustment to the estimates recorded in fiscal 2017.