7.	Income taxes

We record our interim provision for income taxes based on our estimated annual effective tax rate, as well as certain items discrete to the current period. The effective tax rates for the three months ended January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2015 were 12.6% and 27.0%, respectively.

On December 18, 2015, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 was enacted which retroactively reinstated the Federal Research and Development Tax Credit (Federal R&D Tax Credit) as of January 1, 2015, and made it permanent. As a result, our income tax provision for the three months ended January 31, 2016 includes a discrete tax benefit of $2,025 primarily related to 2015. The tax rate for the three months ended January 31, 2016 also includes a discrete tax benefit of $6,184 related to dividends paid from previously taxed foreign earnings generated prior to 2015.

On December 19, 2014, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 was enacted which retroactively reinstated the Federal R&D Tax Credit from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 and extended certain other tax provisions. As a result, our income tax provision for the three months ended January 31, 2015 included a discrete tax benefit of $1,786 primarily related to 2014.