Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

The Company operates in the United States and many foreign countries and is subject to the tax laws of many jurisdictions. Changes in tax laws or the interpretation of tax laws can affect the Company’s earnings, as can the resolution of pending and contested tax issues. The Company's consolidated effective income tax rate is affected by a number of factors, including the mix of domestic and foreign earnings and the effect of exchange rate changes on deferred taxes. Effective tax rates also reflect the benefit of various tax planning opportunities, as well as the net effect of items that were accounted for on a discrete basis in each period.

The consolidated effective income tax rates for the quarter and six months ended September 30, 2019 were 28% and 34%, respectively. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, the Company's consolidated effective income tax rate for the six months ended September 30, 2019 was affected by a $2.8 million net tax provision related to an unresolved tax matter at a foreign subsidiary.  Without the discrete item for the unresolved tax matter, the consolidated effective income tax rate for the six months ended September 30, 2019 would have been approximately 28% .

The consolidated effective income tax rates for the quarter and six months ended September 30, 2018 were approximately 31% and 18%, respectively.  During the first and second quarters of fiscal year 2019, the Company reversed amounts previously recorded for dividend withholding taxes on distributed and undistributed retained earnings of a foreign subsidiary.  The reversal followed the resolution of uncertainties with the local country taxing authorities with respect to the inclusion of the tax under a tax holiday applicable to the subsidiary and was attributable to retained earnings amounts previously distributed or expected to be distributed prior to the expiration of the tax holiday.  Without the dividend withholding tax reversal, the consolidated effective income tax rates for the quarter and six months would have been approximately 33% and 32%, respectively.