INCOME TAXES

The effective tax rates were as follows:



Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017		September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017
14.5	%	65.5	%	42.9	%	68.7	%

The effective tax rate for the three months ended September 29, 2018 decreased compared to the prior year period due primarily to an additional tax benefit recorded in the current period adjusting the provisional estimate of the 2017 U.S. deferred tax balances as well as the exclusion of withholding tax related to sale transactions and the impacts of audit settlements recorded in the prior year period. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 29, 2018 decreased compared to the prior year period due primarily to the previously mentioned exclusion of withholding tax and audit settlements recorded in the prior year period offset by non-deductible intangible and goodwill impairments recorded in the current year period.

Our tax rate is subject to adjustment over the balance of the calendar year due to, among other things, the jurisdictions in which our profits are determined to be earned and taxed; changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; adjustments to estimated taxes upon finalization of various tax returns; adjustments based on differing interpretations of the applicable transfer pricing standards; changes in available tax credits, grants and other incentives; changes in stock-based compensation expense; changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws (for example, IRS proposed regulations related to tax reform); changes in U.S. GAAP; and expiration of or the inability to renew tax rulings or tax holiday incentives.

We file income tax returns in numerous jurisdictions and are therefore subject to audits by tax authorities. Our primary income tax jurisdictions are Ireland, the United States, Israel, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom.

On August 15, 2017, we filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan to recover $163.6 million of Federal income tax, penalties, and interest assessed and collected by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), plus statutory interest thereon from the dates of payment, for the fiscal years ended June 27, 2009, June 26, 2010, June 25, 2011, and June 30, 2012 (the “2009 tax year,” “2010 tax year,” “2011 tax year,” and “2012 tax year,” respectively). The IRS audits of those years culminated in the issuances of two statutory notices of deficiency: (1) on August 27, 2014 for the 2009 and 2010 tax years and (2) on April 20, 2017 for the 2011 and 2012 tax years. The statutory notices of deficiency both included un-agreed income adjustments related principally to transfer pricing adjustments regarding the purchase, distribution, and sale of store-brand OTC pharmaceutical products in the United States. In addition, the statutory notice of deficiency for the 2011 and 2012 tax years included the capitalization of certain expenses that were deducted when paid or incurred in defending against certain patent infringement lawsuits. We fully paid the assessed amounts of tax, interest, and penalties set forth in the statutory notices and filed timely claims for refund on June 11, 2015 and June 7, 2017 for the 2009-2010 tax years and 2011-2012 tax years, respectively. Our claims for refund were disallowed by certified letters dated August 18, 2015 and July 11, 2017, for the 2009-2010 tax years and 2011-2012 tax years, respectively. The complaint was timely, based upon the refund claim denials, and seeks refunds of tax, interest, and penalties of $37.2 million for the 2009 tax year, $61.5 million for the 2010 tax year, $40.2 million for the 2011 tax year, and $24.7 million for the 2012 tax year. The amounts sought in the complaint for the 2009 and 2010 tax years were recorded as deferred charges in Other non-current assets on our balance sheet during the three months ended March 28, 2015, and the amounts sought in the complaint for the 2011 and 2012 tax years were recorded as deferred charges in Other non-current assets on our balance sheet during the three months ended July 1, 2017.

On December 22, 2016, we received a notice of proposed adjustment for the IRS audit of Athena Neurosciences, Inc. (“Athena”), a subsidiary of Elan acquired in 1996, for the years ended December 31, 2011, December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2013. Perrigo acquired Elan in December 2013. This proposed adjustment relates to the deductibility of litigation costs. We disagree with the IRS’s position asserted in the notice of proposed adjustment and intend to contest it.

On July 11, 2017, we received a draft notice of proposed adjustment associated with transfer pricing positions for the IRS audit of Athena for the years ended December 31, 2011, December 31, 2012, and December 31, 2013. Athena was the originator of the patents associated with Tysabri^® prior to the acquisition of Athena by Elan in 1996. In response to the draft notice of proposed adjustment, we provided the IRS with substantial additional documentation supporting our position. The amount of adjustments that may be asserted by the IRS in the final notice of proposed adjustment cannot be quantified at this time; however, based on the draft notice received, the amount to be assessed may be material. We disagree with the IRS’s position as asserted in the draft notice of proposed adjustment and intend to contest it.

On October 31, 2018, we received an audit finding letter from the Irish Office of the Revenue Commissioners (“Irish Revenue”) for the years under audit 2012-2013. The audit finding letter relates to Elan’s taxation of the 2013 sale of the Tysabri^® intellectual property and other assets related to Tysabri^® to Biogen Idec from Elan. The consideration paid by Biogen to Elan took the form of an upfront payment and future contingent royalty payments. We disagree with the Irish Revenue position as asserted in the audit finding letter and intend to contest it, and therefore the amount of adjustments, if any, that may ultimately be asserted by the Irish Revenue cannot be quantified at this stage. The amount of any future assessment could be material.

We have ongoing audits in multiple other jurisdictions the resolution of which remains uncertain. These jurisdictions include, but are not limited to, the United States, Ireland and other jurisdictions in Europe. In addition to the matters discussed above, the IRS is currently auditing our fiscal years ended June 29, 2013, June 28, 2014, and June 27, 2015 (which covers the period of the Elan transaction). The Israel Tax Authority's audit of our fiscal years ended June 29, 2013 and June 28, 2014 concluded with no material impact to the financial statements. The Ireland Tax Authority is currently auditing our years ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2013.

Tax Law Changes

On December 22, 2017, the United States enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“U.S. Tax Act”). The U.S. Tax Act includes a number of significant changes to existing U.S. tax laws that impact us. These changes include a corporate income tax rate reduction from 35% to 21% and the elimination or reduction of certain U.S. deductions and credits including limitations on the U.S. deductibility of interest expense and executive compensation. The U.S. Tax Act also transitions the U.S. taxation of international earnings from a worldwide system to a modified territorial system. These changes were effective beginning in 2018. The U.S. Tax Act also includes a one-time mandatory deemed repatriation tax on accumulated U.S. owned foreign corporations’ previously untaxed foreign earnings (“Transition Toll Tax”). The Transition Toll Tax may be paid over an eight-year period, starting in 2018, and will not accrue interest.

On December 22, 2017, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") was issued to address the application of the U.S. GAAP ASC 740 income tax accounting for tax law changes enacted in the U.S. during 2017, in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the U.S. Tax Act. In accordance with SAB 118, for the year ended December 31, 2017, we recorded an income tax benefit of $2.4 million in connection with the remeasurement of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities and also recorded a $17.5 million increase of current tax expense in connection with the Transition Toll Tax on cumulative U.S. owned foreign earnings of $1.2 billion. The tax impacts represent provisional amounts and are a reasonable estimate. The IRS issued additional guidance related to the U.S. Tax Act during the quarters ended March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018, which resulted in no changes to the provisional estimates recorded at December 31, 2017.

On August 1, 2018, the IRS issued a notice of proposed regulations that implemented Section 965 of the Internal Revenue Code as amended by the U.S. Tax Act. The regulations affect any U.S. company with direct or indirect ownership interests in certain foreign corporations. We are currently evaluating the impact of the regulations on our financial statements and the provisional estimate recorded as of December 31, 2017 related to the Transition Toll Tax.

During the three months ended September 29, 2018 we recorded a tax benefit of $7.7 million as an adjustment to the provisional estimate of 2017 U.S. deferred tax balances. Further work is necessary to perform additional analysis of historical foreign earnings, the impacts of repatriating foreign earnings, and U.S. cumulative temporary differences, as well as potential correlative adjustments. Any subsequent adjustment to these amounts will be recorded to tax expense during the three months ended December 31, 2018.

The U.S. Tax Act subjects a U.S. shareholder to tax on global intangible low-taxed income ("GILTI") earned by certain foreign subsidiaries. The FASB Staff Q&A, Topic 740, No. 5, Accounting for Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income states that an entity can make an accounting policy election to either recognize deferred taxes for temporary basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI in future years or provide for the tax expense related to GILTI in the year the tax is incurred. Given the complexity of the GILTI provisions, we are still evaluating the effects of the GILTI provisions and have not yet determined our accounting policy. At September 29, 2018, we made a reasonable estimate of the tax effect of a GILTI inclusion for 2018. We also estimate that we will not be subject to the base erosion anti-avoidance tax in 2018 and will not record tax benefits for deductions related to foreign-derived intangible income.

On December 22, 2017, the Belgian Parliament approved Belgian tax reform legislation (“Belgium Tax Act”), which was signed by the Belgian King and enacted on December 25, 2017. The Belgium Tax Act provides for a reduction to the corporate income tax rate from 34% to 30%, for 2018 and 2019, as well as a reduced corporate income tax rate of 25% for 2020 and beyond. The Belgium Tax Act also increased the participation exemption on dividend distributions to Belgium entities from 95% to 100%. The Belgium Tax Act also introduces Belgium tax consolidation and other anti-tax avoidance directives. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we recorded additional income tax expense of $24.1 million for the remeasurement of certain deferred tax assets and additional income tax benefit of $33.2 million for the remeasurement of certain deferred tax liabilities as a result of the Belgium Tax Act.