4.	Income Taxes

U.S. Tax Reform

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Act. The Tax Act significantly changed the U.S. corporate income tax regime by, among other things, lowering U.S. corporate income tax rates to 21%. However, the Tax Act eliminated the domestic manufacturing deduction and moves toward a territorial system, which also eliminated the ability to credit certain foreign taxes that existed prior to enactment of the Tax Act. As part of the transition to the new territorial tax system, the Tax Act imposed a one-time repatriation tax on a deemed repatriation of historical earnings of foreign subsidiaries. In the first six months of 2018, the Company repatriated approximately $150.0 of its non-U.S. earnings and paid the associated withholding tax. In addition, the reduction of the U.S. corporate tax rate caused the Company to adjust its U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities to the lower federal base rate of 21%. These provisional impacts resulted in a reduction of tax expense of approximately $273.0 for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017. This was primarily due to the adjustment to the U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The changes included in the Tax Act are broad and complex. While the provisional amount was not adjusted in the first six months of 2018, the final provisional impacts of the Tax Act may differ from the above estimate, possibly materially, due to, among other things, changes in interpretations of the Tax Act, any legislative action to address questions that arise because of the Tax Act, any changes in accounting standards for income taxes or related interpretations in response to the Tax Act, or any updates or changes to estimates the Company has utilized to calculate the provisional impacts. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued guidance that allows for a measurement period of up to one year after the enactment date of the Tax Act to finalize the recording of the related tax impacts. The Company currently anticipates finalizing and recording any resulting adjustments by the end of the measurement period.