INCOME TAXES

The following table provides a summary of the Company's effective tax rate:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2018		2017
Reported tax rate	(20.4	)%	(34.8	)%

The Company’s effective income tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 were (20.4)% and (34.8)%, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the primary drivers of the change in rate are higher income before income taxes compared to the same period in 2017 and the inclusion of the new GILTI (as defined below) provisions of $0.7 million and other tax reform-related changes offset by the reduction in the federal statutory rate from 35% to 21%. The tax benefit recorded this quarter is primarily driven by excess tax benefits from share-based compensation for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, which were $2.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively. These excess tax benefits from share-based compensation reduced the effective tax rate by 30.9% and 57.7% for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "2017 Tax Act"), enacted in December 2017, made significant changes to the previous tax laws. Included among the numerous changes are a reduction of the federal statutory rate from 35% to 21%, limitations on the deductibility of interest expense and executive compensation, and the elimination of certain domestic tax deductions such as the domestic production activities deduction. Additionally, the 2017 Tax Act provides for a one-time repatriation tax on accumulated foreign subsidiaries’ untaxed foreign earnings (the “Toll Tax”).

The 2017 Tax Act implements a territorial tax system and includes base erosion provisions on non-U.S. earnings, which subjects certain foreign earnings to additional taxation as global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”). These provisions became effective on January 1, 2018. As of March 31, 2018, the Company included GILTI related to current-year operations in its estimated annual effective tax rate but has not yet included additional GILTI on deferred tax items.

The 2017 Tax Act eliminated the deferral of U.S. income tax on unrepatriated earnings from foreign subsidiaries through the imposition of the Toll Tax, a one-time tax in 2017 on deemed repatriated foreign earnings, which is paid over an eight-year period. The tax is assessed on the foreign subsidiary accumulated foreign earnings that were not previously taxed. Foreign earnings in cash and cash equivalents are taxed at 15.5% and all other earnings are taxed at 8.0%. The calculation of the Toll Tax allows for the ability to offset positive foreign earnings with existing foreign deficits and use of foreign tax credits. The Company prepared a reasonable estimate of this tax and expects to continue to refine the estimate as it finalizes its 2017 tax returns. As of December 31, 2017, we recorded an estimated income tax expense of $5.5 million related to the Toll Tax, of which, $0.4 million is expected to be paid within one year. The Company continued to analyze its foreign earnings and profits (“E&P”) during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and has not made any adjustments to the provisional amounts recognized during 2017. The Company will continue to refine its E&P analysis, which may affect the measurement of the Toll Tax liability.

As a result of the 2017 Tax Act’s reduction of the federal statutory rate from 35% to 21%, the Company remeasured deferred tax assets and liability and recorded a tax benefit of $43.4 million as of December 31, 2017. The Company did not record any adjustments to this provisional amount during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and will continue to analyze and refine its calculations related to the remeasurement as the impact of the 2017 Tax Act is finalized.

On December 22, 2017, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the 2017 Tax Act. The Company made reasonable estimates of the impact of the 2017 Tax Act on its consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2017 and recognized the provisional tax impacts related to the deemed repatriated earnings and the revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and included these amounts in its consolidated financial statements for the twelve months ended December 31, 2017. The ultimate impact may differ from these provisional amounts, possibly materially, due to, among other things, additional analysis, changes in interpretations and assumptions the Company has made, additional regulatory guidance that may be issued, and actions the Company may take as a result of the 2017 Tax Act.