Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company's tax provision for interim periods is determined using an estimated annual effective tax rate, adjusted for discrete items in the related period.

The effective tax rate was 18.4% and 19.6% for the three and six months ended March 31, 2024, respectively, compared to 25.1% and 24.8% for the three and six months ended March 31, 2023, respectively. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the three and six months ended March 31, 2024 as compared to the three and six months ended March 31, 2023 is primarily due to the tax impact of stock-based compensation.

At March 31, 2024, the Company had $75.4 million of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate. It is anticipated that the Company’s existing liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits will change within the next twelve months due to audit settlements or the expiration of statutes of limitations. The Company does not expect these changes to be material to the consolidated financial statements. The Company recognizes interest and, if applicable, penalties for any uncertain tax positions as a component of income tax expense.

The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as the income tax of multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company has concluded all U.S. federal income tax matters for fiscal years through September 30, 2018. Major jurisdictions where there are wholly owned subsidiaries of F5, Inc. which require income tax filings include the United Kingdom, Singapore, Israel, and India. The earliest periods open for review by local taxing authorities are fiscal years 2022 for the United Kingdom, 2019 for Singapore, 2018 for Israel, and 2018 for India. The Company is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service for fiscal year 2019, by various states for fiscal years 2018 through 2022, and by various foreign jurisdictions including India for fiscal years 2018 to 2022, Israel for fiscal years 2018 to 2022, Saudi Arabia for fiscal years 2015 to 2020, and Singapore for fiscal years 2019 to 2020.