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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Income Taxes [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 3:  Income Taxes

The tax provision for interim periods is determined using the estimated annual effective consolidated tax rate, based on the current estimate of full-year earnings before taxes, adjusted for the impact of discrete quarterly items. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, our effective tax rate was 26.1% compared with 24.9% for the same period in 2011. During the first quarter of 2012, we recorded a discrete tax charge of $0.3 million due to the reduction of deferred tax assets associated with the legal restructuring of the ownership of our Puerto Rico operations. During the three months ended March 31, 2011, we recorded a discrete tax charge of $0.2 million, resulting from the impact of changes in tax laws in certain foreign tax jurisdictions on our deferred tax balances.

Because we are a global organization, we and our subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. Federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. During 2011, the statute of limitations for the 2007 U.S. Federal tax year lapsed, leaving tax years 2008 through 2011 open to examination. For U.S. state and local jurisdictions, tax years 2007 through 2011 are open to examination. We are also subject to examination in various foreign jurisdictions for tax years 2005 through 2011.

It is reasonably possible that, due to the expiration of statutes and the closing of tax audits, the liability for unrecognized tax benefits may be reduced by approximately $0.3 million during the next twelve months, which would favorably impact our effective tax rate. Accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits was $0.5 million and $0.4 million at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.