Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 12. Income Taxes

The Company's global operations, acquisition activity (as applicable) and specific tax attributes provide opportunities for continuous global tax planning initiatives to maximize tax credits and deductions. Comparative earnings before income taxes, income tax expense and effective income tax rates from continuing operations are as follows (dollars in thousands):

	Three Months Ended February 28,						Six Months Ended February 28,
	2023			2022			2023			2022
Earnings from continuing operations before income tax expense	$	10,146		$	3,458		$	18,938		$	8,424
Income tax expense	2,988			1,337			5,370			3,118
Effective income tax rate	29.5		%	38.7		%	28.4		%	37.0		%

The Company’s earnings from continuing operations before income taxes include earnings from both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. As several foreign tax rates are higher than the U.S. tax rate of 21%, the annual effective tax rate is impacted by foreign rate differentials, withholding taxes, losses in jurisdictions where no benefit can be realized, and various aspects of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, such as the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income and Foreign-Derived Intangible Income provisions.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended February 28, 2023 was 29.5%, compared to 38.7% for the comparable prior-year period. The effective tax rate in each time period was significantly impacted by year-to-date losses and deductions in jurisdictions where no tax benefit can be realized. The lower effective tax rate for the three months ended February 28, 2023 was primarily due to tax benefits driven by revaluing tax assets due to tax rate changes. Both the current and prior-year effective income tax rates include the impact of non-recurring items.