INCOME TAXES (Tables)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Effective Tax Rate Reconciliation (Percent)

The following table accounts for the difference between the actual tax provision and the amounts obtained by applying the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate of 35.0% to income before taxes.



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
Effective Tax Rate Reconciliation (Percent)	2017		2016		2017		2016
Statutory federal tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Salt depletion	(11.6	)	(17.3	)	(11.6	)	19.6
Stock-based compensation	(0.9	)	—		(5.1	)	—
Foreign rate differential	(8.9	)	(4.1	)	(8.9	)	3.6
U.S. tax on foreign earnings	8.8		4.0		8.8		(3.4	)
Dividends paid to CEOP	(0.5	)	(0.8	)	(0.5	)	1.1
State income taxes, net	—		2.8		—		6.1
Change in valuation allowance	—		1.0		—		(0.8	)
Change in tax contingencies	0.4		0.6		(16.9	)	(7.2	)
Return to provision	(3.2	)	(3.5	)	(0.5	)	9.0
Impact of tax rate changes	(7.1	)	(2.0	)	(7.5	)	0.7
Other, net	0.7		2.1		0.7		(0.8	)
Effective tax rate	12.7	%	17.8	%	(6.5	)%	62.9	%

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The amount of unrecognized tax benefits was as follows:



	September 30,
	2017			2016
	($ in millions)
Balance at beginning of year	$	38.4		$	35.1
Increases for prior year tax positions	4.9			5.8
Decreases for prior year tax positions	(9.2		)	(1.8		)
Increases for current year tax positions	2.0			1.3
Settlement with taxing authorities	(1.0		)	(2.1		)
Reductions due to statute of limitations	(0.1		)	(0.3		)
Balance at end of period	$	35.0		$	38.0

Tax Returns Subject to Examination

For our primary tax jurisdictions, the tax years that remain subject to examination are as follows:



	Tax Years
U.S. federal income tax	2013 - 2016
U.S. state income tax	2006 - 2016
Canadian federal income tax	2012 - 2016
Brazil	2014 - 2016
Germany	2015 - 2016
China	2014 - 2016
The Netherlands	2014 - 2016
South Korea	2014 - 2016