TAXES

The sources of the Company’s earnings before taxes were as follows for the years ended December 31:



	2018		2017		2016
United States	$	60,043	$	45,105	$	37,363
Non-United States	591,815		529,117		466,830
Earnings before taxes	$	651,858	$	574,222	$	504,193

The provisions for taxes consist of:



	Current		Deferred			Total
Year ended December 31, 2018:
United States federal	$	3,422	$	(4,699	)	$	(1,277	)
State and local	5,073		(161		)	4,912
Non-United States	128,450		7,162			135,612
Total	$	136,945	$	2,302		$	139,247
Year ended December 31, 2017:
United States federal	$	55,660	$	10,173		$	65,833
State and local	361		3,471			3,832
Non-United States	144,974		(16,389		)	128,585
Total	$	200,995	$	(2,745	)	$	198,250
Year ended December 31, 2016:
United States federal	$	20,116	$	(4,817	)	$	15,299
State and local	2,947		1,149			4,096
Non-United States	94,882		5,546			100,428
Total	$	117,945	$	1,878		$	119,823

The provisions for tax expense differed from the amounts computed by applying the United States federal income tax rate of 21% for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 35% for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 to earnings before taxes as a result of the following:



	2018			2017			2016
Expected tax	$	136,890		$	200,978		$	176,467
United States state and local income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	2,787			376			3,064
Net effect of U.S. tax reform (see below)	3,597			71,982			—
Non-United States income taxes at other than U.S. federal rate	12,710			(43,691		)	(65,917		)
Excess tax benefits from stock option exercises	(13,836		)	(35,171		)	—
Effect of Biotix contingent consideration settlement	(4,394		)	—			—
Other, net	1,493			3,776			6,209
Total provision for taxes	$	139,247		$	198,250		$	119,823

The Company's reported effective tax rate was 21.4% in 2018, 34.5% in 2017, and 23.8% in 2016. As discussed below, the provision for income taxes included charges of $3.6 million in 2018 and $72 million in 2017 related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("the Act") which had the effect of increasing our effective tax rate by 0.6% and 12.5% in 2018 and 2017, respectively. The 2018 effective tax rate also included a benefit of 0.7% associated with the one-time gain related to the settlement of the Biotix contingent consideration.

On December 22, 2017, the Act significantly revised U.S. corporate income tax law. The Act included, among other things, a reduction in the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and the implementation of a modified territorial tax system that included a one-time transition tax on deemed repatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries ("Transition Tax") that is payable over a period of up to eight years.

The Company recorded charges of $3.6 million in 2018 and $72 million in 2017 relating to the Act. Of these amounts, $62 million is expected to be payable over a period of up to eight years of which $46 million is included as a component of other non-current liabilities, $8 million is included in deferred tax liabilities, $4 million is included in taxes payable and $4.2 million has been paid. The components of the Company's charges included:

•

Cash charges of $62 million for un-repatriated foreign earnings due to the estimated Transition Tax of $54 million, and $8 million of foreign withholding taxes, and U.S. federal, state, and local taxes related to the reassessment of planned repatriation of certain foreign earnings that were previously determined to be permanently reinvested. All other undistributed earnings were considered permanently reinvested.


•	A non-cash charge of $13 million primarily related to changes in the treatment of certain deferred tax items and other non-cash items. The effect of remeasuring the U.S. net deferred tax balances resulting from the reduction of the U.S. income tax rate from 35% to 21% was immaterial.

The Company's accounting for the above items was based upon reasonable estimates of the tax effects of the Act, and its evaluation of recently issued regulatory guidance. During the fourth quarter of 2018, additional regulatory guidance was issued which clarified, among other things, the definition of cash equivalents used in the computation of the Transition Tax. As a result, the Company recorded a charge of $3.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2018 that primarily related to an increase in the Transition Tax obligation. The increased Transition Tax is payable over a period of eight years beginning in 2018. In January 2019, further interpretive regulatory guidance was issued relating to Transition Tax. The Company has yet to complete its analysis of this recently issued guidance, but does not expect a material impact to its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities are presented below at December 31:



	2018			2017
Deferred tax assets:
Inventory	$	15,078		$	13,779
Accrued and other liabilities	65,879			62,175
Accrued post-retirement benefit and pension costs	50,496			55,545
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	30,696			32,247
Other	17,397			12,099
Total deferred tax assets	179,546			175,845
Less valuation allowance	(15,084		)	(12,857		)
Total deferred tax assets less valuation allowance	164,462			162,988
Deferred tax liabilities:
Inventory	4,890			4,730
Property, plant, and equipment	47,451			50,440
Acquired intangibles amortization	66,386			66,755
Prepaid post-retirement benefit and pension costs	31,473			27,747
International earnings	18,680			23,121
Unrealized currency gains	9,334			—
Total deferred tax liabilities	178,214			172,793
Net deferred tax (liability) asset	$	(13,752	)	$	(9,805	)

The increase in the valuation allowance during 2018 is primarily attributable to increases in valuation allowances against the Company's foreign tax credit carryforwards. Upon adoption of ASU 2016-09 in the first quarter of 2017, the Company recorded $69 million in additional deferred tax assets related primarily to U.S. tax credit carryforwards which arose directly from tax deductions for share-based compensation arrangements, against which a full valuation allowance was recorded in the first quarter and subsequently released in the fourth quarter, along with $11 million of other pre-existing valuation allowances, in connection with the determination of the Transition Tax related to the Act as described above.

The Company continues to record valuation allowances related to certain of its deferred income tax assets due to the uncertainty of the ultimate realization of future benefits from such assets. The potential decrease or increase of the valuation allowance in the near term is dependent on the future ability of the Company to realize the deferred tax assets that are affected by the future profitability of operations in various worldwide jurisdictions.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:



	2018			2017
Unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	24,090		$	20,240
Increases related to current tax positions	7,638			2,484
Increases (decreases) related to prior year tax positions	(605		)	1,434
Decreases relating to taxing authority settlements	(4,454		)	(856		)
Decreases resulting from a lapse of the applicable statute of limitations	(505		)	(186		)
Other, net	(488		)	974
Unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	25,676		$	24,090

Included in the balance of unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2018 and 2017 were $25.7 million and $24.1 million, respectively, of tax benefits that if recognized would reduce the Company’s effective tax rate. The Company recognizes accrued amounts of interest and penalties related to its uncertain tax positions as part of its income tax expense within its consolidated statement of operations. The amount of accrued interest and penalties included within other non-current liabilities within the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $3.7 million and $2.8 million, respectively.

The Company believes that it is reasonably possible that the unrecognized tax benefit balance could change over the next twelve months, primarily related to potential disputes raised by the taxing authorities over income and expense recognition. The Company does not expect a change would have a material impact on its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

The Company plans to repatriate earnings from China, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and certain other countries in future years and believes that there will be no additional tax costs associated with the repatriation of such foreign earnings other than non-U.S. withholding taxes, certain state taxes and U.S. taxes on currency gains, if any for which a deferred tax liability has been recorded. All other undistributed earnings not subject to the Transition Tax, any additional outside basis difference inherent in these entities and the contributed capital of our foreign subsidiaries, are considered to be permanently reinvested on which no U.S. deferred income taxes or foreign withholding taxes have been provided. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of deferred tax liability related to these undistributed earnings and additional outside basis differences in these entities due to the complexity of the calculation and the uncertainty regarding assumptions necessary to compute the tax.

As of December 31, 2018, the major jurisdictions for which the Company is subject to examinations are Germany for years after 2015, the United States after 2014, France after 2017, Switzerland after 2016, the United Kingdom after 2016, and China after 2017. Additionally, the Company is currently under examination in various taxing jurisdictions in which it conducts business operations. While the Company has not yet received any material assessments from these taxing authorities, the Company believes that adequate amounts of taxes and related interest and penalties have been provided for any adverse adjustments as a result of these examinations and that the ultimate outcome of these examinations will not result in a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position.