Income Tax Expense

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Expense

NOTE 14. INCOME TAX EXPENSE

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	$	69.4		$	106.7		$	(169.8	)	$	239.6
Income tax expense (benefit)		15.2			16.0			(50.9	)		48.8
Effective tax rate		21.9	%		15.0	%		30.0	%		20.4	%

The effective tax rate in the third quarter of 2020 was higher than the same period in 2019, largely driven by the absence of the beneficial tax impact of our share of WAVE’s gain on sale of its discontinued European and Pacific Rim businesses and the absence of a benefit related to a statute closure, both recognized in 2019. These increases were both partially offset by the current year tax benefit related to the sale of our idled mineral fiber plant in China. The effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2020 was higher than the effective tax rate for the same period in 2019 primarily due to the tax effects of our first quarter of 2020 pension settlement and the absence of benefits related to the WAVE gain on sale and statute closure from 2019, partially offset by the benefits related to the sale of our idled mineral fiber plant in China. See Note 16 for additional details related to our pension settlement.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits could significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months. However, an estimate of the range of reasonably possible outcomes cannot be reliably made at this time.  Changes to unrecognized tax benefits could result from the completion of ongoing examinations, the expiration of statutes of limitations or other unforeseen circumstances.