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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes INCOME TAXES
The provision for income taxes for the years ended November 30 consists of the following:
(millions)202120202019
Income taxes
Current
Federal$71.7 $98.3 $52.3 
State14.0 14.8 10.7 
International71.0 73.0 73.5 
 156.7 186.1 136.5 
Deferred
Federal23.5 4.6 26.4 
State16.8 0.5 3.6 
International(4.3)(16.3)(9.1)
 36.0 (11.2)20.9 
Total income tax expense (benefit)$192.7 $174.9 $157.4 
The components of income from consolidated operations before income taxes for the years ended November 30 follow:
(millions)202120202019
Pretax income
United States$588.1 $624.3 $569.0 
International307.7 257.2 250.2 
 $895.8 $881.5 $819.2 
A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate with the effective tax rate for the years ended November 30 follows:
202120202019
Federal statutory tax rate21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
State income taxes, net of federal benefits1.6 1.5 1.6 
International tax at different effective rates0.8 1.3 1.6 
U.S. tax on remitted and unremitted earnings0.1 0.8 0.5 
Stock compensation expense(0.4)(1.5)(2.8)
Changes in prior year tax contingencies(2.5)(0.3)(0.3)
Acquisition-related state tax rate change, net of federal benefits1.2 — — 
Valuation allowance release(0.5)(1.4)— 
Intra-entity asset transfer— (1.1)(1.8)
Non-recurring benefit of U.S. Tax Act— — (0.2)
Other, net0.2 (0.5)(0.4)
Total21.5 %19.8 %19.2 %
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are comprised of the following as of November 30:
(millions)20212020
Deferred tax assets
Employee benefit liabilities$91.2 $121.9 
Other accrued liabilities39.8 40.3 
Inventory12.9 10.6 
Tax loss and credit carryforwards56.6 59.7 
Operating lease liabilities4.0 33.0 
Other51.0 47.9 
Valuation allowance(32.7)(31.5)
 222.8 281.9 
Deferred tax liabilities
Depreciation97.5 89.1 
Intangible assets841.3 815.1 
Lease ROU assets3.3 32.2 
Other5.9 4.5 
 948.0 940.9 
Net deferred tax liability$(725.2)$(659.0)
At November 30, 2021, we have tax loss carryforwards of $186.2 million. Of these carryforwards, $1.1 million expire in 2022, $18.7 million from 2023 through 2024, $88.0 million from 2025 through 2038 and $78.4 million may be carried forward indefinitely. In addition, one of our non-U.S. subsidiaries has a capital loss carryforward of $5.0 million which may be carried forward indefinitely. At November 30, 2021, we also have U.S. foreign tax credit carryforwards of $7.0 million and $5.3 million which expire in 2030 and 2031, respectively.
A valuation allowance has been provided to cover deferred tax assets that are not more likely than not realizable. The net increase of $1.2 million in the valuation allowance from November 30, 2020 to November 30, 2021 resulted primarily from the net increase of valuation allowances for net operating losses and other tax attributes in the U.S. and certain non-U.S. jurisdictions.
In December 2017, "An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018" was enacted into law as Pub. L. 115-9 (hereafter referred to as the "U.S. Tax Act"). Prior to the U.S. Tax Act, we asserted that substantially all of the undistributed earnings of our international subsidiaries and joint ventures were considered indefinitely invested and accordingly, no deferred taxes were provided. Pursuant to the provisions of the U.S. Tax Act, these earnings were subjected to a one-time transition tax in 2018. The transition tax was recognized in 2018 and was based on cumulative earnings prior to the U.S. Tax Act. Our intent is to continue to reinvest undistributed earnings of our international subsidiaries and joint ventures indefinitely. As of November 30, 2021, we have $1.3 billion of earnings that are considered indefinitely reinvested. While federal income tax expense has been recognized as a result of the U.S. Tax Act, we have not provided any additional deferred taxes with respect to items such as foreign withholding taxes, state income tax or foreign exchange gain or loss. It is not practicable for us to determine the amount of unrecognized tax expense on these reinvested international earnings.
The following table summarizes the activity related to our gross unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended November 30:
(millions)202120202019
Balance at beginning of year$39.3 $32.0 $27.9 
Additions for current year tax positions4.8 7.8 6.6 
Additions for prior year tax positions0.1 2.5 0.6 
Reductions of prior year tax positions(11.6)— (0.3)
Statute expirations(6.0)(4.2)(2.5)
Settlements(0.2)— — 
Foreign currency translation0.4 1.2 (0.3)
Balance at November 30$26.8 $39.3 $32.0 
As of November 30, 2021, 2020, and 2019, if recognized, $26.8 million, $39.3 million and $32.0 million, respectively, of the unrecognized tax benefits would affect the effective rate.
We record interest and penalties on income taxes in income tax expense. We recognized interest and penalty expense (benefit) of $(3.7) million, $0.8 million and $2.1 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of
November 30, 2021 and 2020, we had accrued $4.7 million and $8.3 million, respectively, of interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits.

Tax settlements or statute of limitation expirations could result in a change to our uncertain tax positions. We believe that the reasonably possible total amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of November 30, 2021 that could decrease in the next 12 months as a result of various statute expirations, audit closures and/or tax settlements would not be material.
We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and non-U.S. jurisdictions. The open years subject to tax audits vary depending on the tax jurisdictions. In the U.S federal jurisdiction, we are no longer subject to income tax audits by taxing authorities for years before 2018. In other major jurisdictions, we are no longer subject to income tax audits by taxing authorities for years before 2014.
We are under normal recurring tax audits in the U.S. and in several jurisdictions outside the U.S. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of resolution of any particular uncertain tax position, we believe that our reserves for uncertain tax positions are adequate to cover existing risks and exposures.