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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Income Tax Expense (Benefit) [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
INCOME TAXES
The Company calculates its interim income tax provision by estimating the annual effective tax rate and applying that rate to its year-to-date ordinary earnings. The tax expense or benefit related to significant, unusual or extraordinary items that will be separately reported or reported net of their related tax effect are individually computed and recognized in the interim period in which those items occur. In addition, the effect of changes in tax laws, rates or status is recognized in the interim period in which the change occurs. The Company evaluates its effective income tax rate on a quarterly basis and updates its estimate of the full-year effective income tax rate as necessary.
The computation of the annual estimated effective tax rate at each interim period requires certain estimates and significant judgment including, but not limited to, the expected operating income for the year, projections of the proportion of income earned and taxed in foreign jurisdictions, permanent and temporary differences as a result of differences between amounts measured and recognized in accordance with tax laws and financial accounting standards, and the likelihood of recovering deferred tax assets generated in the current year. The accounting estimates used to compute the provision (benefit) for income taxes may change as events occur, additional information is obtained or as the tax environment changes.
The Company's effective income tax rate for the 13-week period ended March 31, 2012 was a benefit of 41.2%, which resulted in a benefit of $4.4 million, while the effective tax rate for the 13-week period ended April 2, 2011 was a provision of 0.5%, which resulted in expense of $0.1 million. The effective tax rate was unusually low last year due to the valuation allowance in place against its deferred tax assets. During the second fiscal quarter of 2011, the Company determined that it was more likely than not that it would have sufficient future taxable income to utilize the majority of its deferred tax assets and, as a result, released approximately $15.7 million of the valuation allowance against these assets. The release of this valuation allowance returned the Company to a more normalized effective tax rate. As a result, the Company was able to record a tax benefit in the first quarter of 2012 since it was a loss quarter within a forecasted profitable year. The Company continues to maintain a valuation allowance in the amount of $1.7 million against its South Carolina state tax credits until sufficient positive evidence exists to support the reversal of this valuation allowance.
In evaluating the Company's ability to recover its deferred tax assets, it considers all available positive and negative evidence, including past operating results, the existence of cumulative losses in past fiscal years and the Company's forecast of future taxable income in the jurisdictions in which it has operations. A valuation allowance must be provided if, based on all available evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company will continue to evaluate its ability to realize deferred tax assets on a quarterly basis and adjust the valuation allowance against these deferred tax assets accordingly.