Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

Our quarterly tax provision is calculated using an estimated annual tax rate that is adjusted for discrete items occurring during the period to arrive at our effective tax rate. During the three and nine months ended July 31, 2020, we had effective tax rates of 29.9% and (444.6)%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended July 31, 2020, excluding a nondeductible impairment loss of $163.8 million, was 28.0%. For the three and nine months ended July 31, 2020, the provisions for taxes were $24.0 million and $43.2 million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended July 31, 2019, we had effective tax rates of 18.9% and 24.5%, respectively, resulting in provisions for taxes of $8.5 million and $25.8 million, respectively.

Our effective tax rate for the three months ended July 31, 2020, was impacted by a discrete benefit of $0.8 million related to energy efficiency. Our effective tax rate for the three months ended July 31, 2019, was impacted by the following discrete items: a $2.0 million benefit from an expiring statute of limitations and a $0.5 million benefit from certain credits.

Our effective tax rate for the nine months ended July 31, 2020, was impacted by the following discrete items: a $1.9 million tax provision related to the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (“WOTC”) and a $1.2 million benefit related to energy efficiency. Our effective tax rate for the nine months ended July 31, 2019, was impacted by the following discrete items: a $2.0 million benefit from an expiring statute of limitations; a $1.4 million provision for reserves; a $1.3 million provision related to WOTC; and a $1.1 million benefit from the vesting of share-based compensation awards.

In response to COVID-19, Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) on March 27, 2020. The CARES Act provides various stimulus measures, including several income tax and payroll tax provisions. Among the payroll tax provisions is the creation of a refundable credit for employee retention and the deferral of certain payroll tax remittances through December 31, 2020, to future years (with 50% of the deferred amount due by December 31, 2021, and the remaining 50% due by December 31, 2022). We evaluated the impact of business tax provisions in the CARES Act. The impact of the income tax provisions was not

material. The impact of the payroll tax provisions was the deferral of approximately $58 million of payroll tax as of July 31, 2020. We continue planning to reinvest our foreign earnings to fund future non-U.S. growth and expansion, and we do not anticipate remitting such earnings to the United States. While U.S. federal tax expense has been recognized as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, no deferred tax liabilities with respect to federal and state income taxes or foreign withholding taxes have been recognized.