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Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
Our effective income tax rates were 17.6% and 3.7% for the six and three months ended June 30, 2014 and 28.6% and 33.4% for the same periods in the prior year. The effective tax rates for the six and three months ended June 30, 2014 are lower than the comparable prior year periods primarily due to an incremental tax benefit of $265 recorded in the second quarter of 2014 that related to the application of a 2012 Federal Court of Claims decision which held that the tax basis in certain assets could be increased and realized upon the assets' disposition. In addition, during the second quarter of 2014, tax benefits of $116 and $143 were recorded as a result of the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 federal tax audit settlements. These benefits are partially offset by the absence of the U.S. research and development tax credit (research tax credit). The research tax credit was effective for 2013, but due to the expiration at the end of 2013, no tax benefit is recorded in 2014. Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2013, Congress retroactively reinstated the research tax credit for 2012, which reduced income tax expense by $145. If Congress extends the research tax credit for 2014, there will be a favorable impact on our effective income tax rate.
The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits increased from $1,141 as of December 31, 2013 to $1,420 as of June 30, 2014 primarily due to the tax basis adjustment, partially offset by the settlement of the 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 federal tax audits.
Federal income tax audits have been settled for all years prior to 2011. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will begin the 2011-2012 federal tax audit in the third quarter of 2014. We are also subject to examination in major state and international jurisdictions for the 2001-2013 tax years. We believe appropriate provisions for all outstanding tax issues have been made for all jurisdictions and all open years.