INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax Expense

Income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit) consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Year Ended March 31,
	2018			2017		2016
Domestic	$	(35,032	)	$	32,475	$	(6,979	)
Foreign	16,373			19,710		(25,460		)
	$	(18,659	)	$	52,185	$	(32,439	)

Summary of Components of Income Tax Expense

The components of the income tax expense (benefit) are as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended March 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Current income tax expense:
Federal	$	14,191		$	15,912		$	29,238
State	1,925			3,152			2,223
Foreign	12,249			11,175			6,628
	28,365			30,239			38,089
Deferred income tax expense (benefit):
Federal	(113,122		)	(8,278		)	(30,216		)
State	(10,037		)	3,578			(4,461		)
Foreign	(3,677		)	(6,645		)	(7,482		)
	(126,836		)	(11,345		)	(42,159		)
	$	(98,471	)	$	18,894		$	(4,070	)

Schedule of Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate to Effective Tax Rate

The income tax expense (benefit) computed using the federal statutory income tax rate differs from NetScout’s effective tax rate primarily due to the following:

	Year Ended March 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Statutory U.S. federal tax rate	31.6	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State taxes, net of federal tax effect	6.9		9.7		3.1
Research and development tax credits	39.5		(8.2	)	13.0
Effect of foreign operations	15.5		(6.7	)	(18.2	)
Meals and entertainment	(6.7	)	2.5		(3.5	)
Domestic production activities deduction	13.8		(4.0	)	9.2
Change in valuation allowance	(0.2	)	(0.1	)	0.7
Transaction costs	—		—		(19.1	)
2017 tax act	454.1		—		—
Foreign withholding	(21.0	)	3.8		(6.1	)
Other permanent differences	(5.8	)	4.2		(1.6	)
	527.7	%	36.2	%	12.5	%

Summary of Components of Net Deferred Tax Assets

The components of net deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended March 31,
	2018			2017
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued expenses	$	4,068		$	4,883
Deferred revenue	12,168			8,427
Reserves	3,375			6,240
Pension and other retiree benefits	5,307			4,978
Net operating loss carryforwards	21,251			27,322
Tax credit carryforwards	6,625			5,502
Share-based compensation	5,164			6,418
Other	418			288
Total gross deferred tax assets	58,376			64,058
Valuation allowance	(3,108		)	(3,374		)
Net deferred tax assets	55,268			60,684
Deferred tax liabilities:
Intangible assets	(195,959		)	(323,008		)
Depreciation	(4,187		)	(8,695		)
Total deferred tax asset (liability)	$	(144,878	)	$	(271,019	)

Schedule of Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 is as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended March 31,
	2018			2017			2016
Balance at April 1,	$	2,926		$	1,588		$	1,038
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	126			46			48
Release of tax positions of prior years	(481		)	(154		)	—
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits as a result of a tax position taken during a prior period	—			1,446			502
Decrease relating to settlements with taxing authorities	(356		)	—			—
Balance at March 31,	$	2,215		$	2,926		$	1,588