Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

For the quarter ended June 30, 2019 the Company recorded a tax benefit of $8.2 million compared to tax expense of $1.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The tax benefit was driven by $10.5 million of tax benefit related to the pension plan settlement and resulted in an effective tax rate for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 of 54.0%. This is compared to an effective tax rate of 13.7% for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The pension plan settlement tax benefit included a $4.5 million benefit related to the reclassification of stranded tax effects from accumulated other comprehensive income. Excluding the tax benefit of the pension plan settlement, the Company's effective tax rate for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 was 22.7%. This was negatively impacted by valuation allowance activity of $0.9 million partially offset by the Company's geographical mix of earnings. The second quarter of 2018 effective tax rate was positively impacted by discretionary pension plan contributions and geographical mix of earnings.

For the six months ended June 30, 2019 the Company recorded a tax benefit of $7.1 million compared to tax expense of $3.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018. The tax benefit was driven by $10.5 million of tax benefit related to the pension plan settlement and resulted in an effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2019 of 69.7%. This is compared to an effective tax rate of 15.0% for the six months ended June 30, 2018. Excluding the tax benefit of the pension plan settlement, the Company's effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was 22.5%. This was negatively impacted by valuation allowance activity of $1.2 million partially offset by the Company's geographical mix of earnings.

The Company and its subsidiaries file a consolidated federal income tax return, as well as returns required by various state and foreign jurisdictions. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to examination by taxing authorities, including such major jurisdictions as the United States, France, Germany, China, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal examinations for years before 2015, state and local examinations for years before 2013, and non-U.S. income tax examinations for years before 2003.

The Company’s effective tax rates in future periods could be affected by an increase or decrease in earnings in countries where tax rates differ from the United States federal tax rate, the relative impact of permanent tax adjustments on earnings from domestic operations, changes in net deferred tax asset valuation allowances, stock vesting, pension plan terminations, the completion of acquisitions or divestitures, changes in tax rates or tax laws and the completion of ongoing tax planning strategies and audits.