Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Components of income tax expense associated with the TCJA

The amount of net tax expense recorded provisionally by the Company in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017 and adjustments recorded during the measurement period in 2018 that are directly and indirectly related to the enactment of the TCJA are summarized as follows:

				Years ended December 31,
	Total			2018			2017
Remeasurement of net deferred tax liabilities	$	(76,027	)	$	(1,211	)	$	(74,816	)
Transition tax on unremitted foreign earnings		222,983			7,425			215,558
Incremental foreign taxes on assumed repatriation		232,282			19,282			213,000
Reversal of deferred taxes due to cancellation of 2015 repatriation plan		(118,887	)		-			(118,887	)
Total tax expense related to the enactment of the TCJA	$	260,351		$	25,496		$	234,855

Components of income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes and noncontrolling interest

Income (loss) from continuing operations before taxes and noncontrolling interests consists of the following components:

	Years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Domestic	$	(10,992	)	$	(39,861	)	$	(40,171	)
Foreign		237,290			456,637			319,535
	$	226,298		$	416,776		$	279,364

Components of income taxes

Significant components of income taxes are as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Current:
Federal	$	9,137		$	18,756		$	180,873
State and local		415			209			108
Foreign		113,779			263,247			65,566
		123,331			282,212			246,547
Deferred:
Federal		(13,731	)		(58,386	)		(101,896	)
State and local		(802	)		(3,117	)		1,538
Foreign		(47,290	)		(150,470	)		152,735
		(61,823	)		(211,973	)		52,377
Total income tax expense	$	61,508		$	70,239		$	298,924

Deferred tax assets and liabilities

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

	December 31,
	2019			2018
Deferred tax assets:
Pension and other retiree obligations	$	48,434		$	43,238
Inventories		19,318			9,795
Property and equipment		-			5,888
Net operating loss carryforwards		119,420			128,177
Tax credit carryforwards		76,140			72,708
Other accruals and reserves		29,273			19,645
Total gross deferred tax assets		292,585			279,451
Less valuation allowance		(194,797	)		(200,809	)
		97,788			78,642
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property and equipment		(2,391	)		-
Earnings not permanently reinvested		(16,448	)		(65,537	)
Convertible debentures		(25,219	)		(32,488	)
Other - net		(6,499	)		(7,370	)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities		(50,557	)		(105,395	)
Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	47,231		$	(26,753	)

Federal statutory income tax rate reconciliation

A reconciliation of income tax expense at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to actual income tax provision is as follows:

	Years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Tax at statutory rate	$	47,523		$	87,523		$	97,777
State income taxes, net of U.S. federal tax benefit		(301	)		(2,298	)		1,070
Effect of foreign operations		9,242			5,736			(54,807	)
Tax on earnings not permanently reinvested		6,256			9,304			88,311
Unrecognized tax benefits		5,584			2,669			5,887
Repurchase of senior convertible debentures		(1,461	)		(52,312	)		-
TCJA - remeasurement of net deferred tax liabilities		-			(1,211	)		(74,816	)
TCJA - transition tax on unremitted foreign earnings		-			7,425			215,558
Foreign income taxable in the U.S.		6,090			15,055			20,436
Deferred tax rate impact of corporate reorganization		(12,121	)		-			-
Other		696			(1,652	)		(492	)
Total income tax expense	$	61,508		$	70,239		$	298,924

Net operating loss carryforwards

At December 31, 2019, the Company had the following significant net operating loss carryforwards for tax purposes: 

			Expires
Austria	$	17,485	No expiration
Belgium		158,847	No expiration
Israel		10,707	No expiration
Italy		7,325	No expiration
Japan		7,675		2020 - 2029
Netherlands		12,159		2021 - 2026
The Republic of China (Taiwan)		19,130		2024- 2028
Pennsylvania		655,869		2020 - 2039

Summary of significant tax credit carryforwards available

At December 31, 2019, the Company had the following significant tax credit carryforwards available:

			Expires
U.S. Foreign Tax Credit	$	60,237		2028 - 2029
California Research Credit		15,642	No expiration

Unrecognized tax benefits

The following table summarizes changes in the liabilities associated with unrecognized tax benefits:

	Years ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year	$	21,241		$	17,056		$	16,805
Addition based on tax positions related to the current year		2,383			4,332			3,911
Addition based on tax positions related to prior years		16,190			2,066			1,837
Currency translation adjustments		1,211			(984	)		915
Reduction based on tax positions related to prior years		-			-			(1,473	)
Reduction for settlements		(3,121	)		(1,229	)		(4,077	)
Reduction for lapses of statute of limitation		(1,036	)		-			(862	)
Balance at end of year	$	36,868		$	21,241		$	17,056