Income Tax

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax

Income Tax

 Autodesk had income tax expense of $26.3 million, relative to pre-tax income of $66.5 million for the three months ended July 31, 2019, and income tax expense of $16.0 million, relative to pre-tax losses of $23.4 million for the three months ended July 31, 2018. Autodesk had income tax expense of $59.1 million, relative to pre-tax income of $75.1 million for the six months ended July 31, 2019, and income tax expense of $34.6 million, relative to pre-tax loss of $87.2 million for the six months ended July 31, 2018. Income tax expense for the three and six months ended July 31, 2019, increased primarily due to increased foreign income taxes as a result of the increased foreign earnings and withholding taxes.

Autodesk regularly assesses the need for a valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets. In making that assessment, Autodesk considers both positive and negative evidence related to the likelihood of realization of the deferred tax assets to determine, based on the weight of available evidence, whether it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. In evaluating the need for a valuation allowance, Autodesk considered cumulative losses as a significant source of negative evidence and maintained a valuation allowance against our deferred tax attributes in the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions as of July 31, 2019.

As of July 31, 2019, the Company had $214.4 million of gross unrecognized tax benefits, of which $196.7 million would reduce our valuation allowance, if recognized. The remaining $17.7 million would impact the effective tax rate, if recognized. It is possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will change in the next twelve months; however, an estimate of the range of the possible change cannot be made at this time.