XML 23 R12.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1
Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Taxes [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 5 – Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of provisions for federal, state, and foreign income taxes.  The effective tax rates for the periods ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017 reflect the Company's expected tax rate on reported income from continuing operations before income tax and tax adjustments. The Company operates in a global environment with significant operations in various jurisdictions outside the United States.  Accordingly, the consolidated income tax rate is a composite rate reflecting the Company's earnings and the applicable tax rates in the various jurisdictions where the Company operates.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA") was enacted in the United States.  The TCJA represents sweeping changes in U.S. tax law.  Among the numerous changes in tax law, the TCJA permanently reduced the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 21% beginning in 2018; imposed a one-time transition tax on deferred foreign earnings; established a partial territorial tax system by allowing a 100% dividends received deduction on qualifying dividends paid by foreign subsidiaries; limited deductions for net interest expense; and expanded the U.S. taxation of foreign earned income to include "global intangible low-taxed income" ("GILTI") of foreign subsidiaries.

The TCJA represents the first significant change in U.S. tax law in over 30 years.  As permitted by SAB No. 118, the tax expense recorded in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 due to the enactment of the TCJA was considered "provisional," based on reasonable estimates.  The Company is continuing to collect and analyze detailed information about the earnings and profits of its non-U.S. subsidiaries, the related taxes paid, the amounts which could be repatriated, the foreign taxes which may be incurred on repatriation, and the associated impact of these items under the TCJA.  The Company may record adjustments to refine those estimates during the measurement period, as additional analysis is completed.  No adjustments were recorded during the first fiscal quarter of 2018. 

Furthermore, the Company is continuing to evaluate the TCJA's provisions and may prospectively adjust its financial structure and business practices accordingly.

The TCJA transitions the U.S. from a worldwide tax system to a partial territorial tax system.  Under previous law, companies could indefinitely defer U.S. income taxation on unremitted foreign earnings. The TCJA imposes a one-time transition tax on deferred foreign earnings of 15.5% for liquid assets and 8% for illiquid assets, payable in defined increments over eight years.  As a result of this requirement, the Company recognized provisional tax expense of $215,558 in 2017, and provisionally expects to pay $180,000, net of estimated applicable foreign tax credits, and after utilization of net operating loss, R&D credits, and foreign tax credit carryforwards. These previously deferred foreign earnings may now be repatriated to the United States without additional U.S. federal taxation.  However, any such repatriation could incur withholding and other foreign taxes in the source and intervening foreign jurisdictions, and certain U.S. state taxes.

Due to the changes in taxation of dividends received from foreign subsidiaries, and also because of the need to finance the payment of the transition tax, the Company made the determination during the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 that certain unremitted foreign earnings in Israel, Germany, Austria, and France are no longer permanently reinvested, and recorded provisional tax expense of $213,000 to accrue the incremental foreign income taxes and withholding taxes payable to foreign jurisdictions assuming the hypothetical repatriation to the United States of these approximately $1,100,000 of available foreign earnings.  Due to the existence of the foreign cash taxes payable at the source, the Company expects to actually repatriate these amounts at a measured pace over several years, and may decide to ultimately not repatriate some of these amounts.  The Company terminated its previous cash repatriation program and recorded a provisional income tax benefit to reverse the associated deferred tax liability as a result of this planned repatriation.  No amounts were repatriated pursuant to this program in the first fiscal quarter of 2018.
 
The Company's effective tax rate for the period ended March 31, 2018 was negatively impacted by certain provisions of the TCJA.  The provisions of the TCJA are interrelated and the impact of any specific provision cannot be isolated. The Company operates at a pre-tax loss in the U.S. and the reduction in the federal tax rate reduces the tax benefit recorded.  In addition, the inclusion of GILTI income and the limitation and the deductibility of interest expense increased the effective tax rate. The Company has elected to account for GILTI tax in the period in which it is incurred, and therefore did not provide any deferred taxes in the consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2017.

Income tax expense for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2018, includes tax expense of $1,316 for the periodic remeasurement of the deferred tax liability recorded for the foreign taxes associated with the cash repatriation program described above, primarily due to the foreign currency effects.

Income tax expense for the fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2017 included a tax benefit of $968 for the periodic remeasurement of the deferred tax liability recorded for the cash repatriation program that was terminated as a result of the enactment of the TCJA.

During the three fiscal months ended March 31, 2018, the liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits increased by $568 on a net basis, due to increases for tax positions taken in the current period, interest, and foreign currency effects.