Income Taxes (Text Block)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes [Text Block]

Income Taxes

Our tax provisions as a percentage of income (loss) before tax typically differ from the federal statutory rate of 35%, and may vary from period to period, due to fluctuations in the forecasted mix of earnings in domestic and international jurisdictions, new or revised tax legislation and accounting pronouncements, tax credits, state income taxes, adjustments to valuation allowances, and interest expense and penalties related to uncertain tax positions, among other items.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, we had tax provisions of 15.4% and 22.2%, based on a percentage of income (loss) before tax, as compared with tax provisions of 1.2% and 3.6% for the same periods in 2011.

Our tax provision in 2012 differs from the federal statutory rate due to projected earnings in tax jurisdictions with rates lower than 35%, the benefit of certain interest expense deductions, and an election under U.S. Internal Revenue Code Section 338 with respect to a foreign acquisition in 2007.

Our tax provision in 2011 differs from the federal statutory rate due to the impact of the goodwill impairment, which is not deductible, projected earnings in tax jurisdictions with rates lower than 35%, the benefit of certain interest expense deductions, a benefit related to the settlement of a foreign tax litigation, and an election under U.S. Internal Revenue Code Sections 338 with respect to a foreign acquisition in 2007.

We classify interest expense and penalties related to unrecognized tax liabilities and interest income on tax overpayments as components of income tax expense. The net interest and penalties expense recognized is as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2012		2011		2012		2011
	(in thousands)
Net interest and penalties expense	$	378	$	476	$	643	$	584

Accrued interest and penalties recorded are as follows:

	September 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
	(in thousands)
Accrued interest	$	4,225	$	3,781
Accrued penalties	2,847		2,766

Unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions and the amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect our effective tax rate are as follows:

	September 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
	(in thousands)
Unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions	$	26,163	$	24,737
The amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect our effective tax rate	25,667		24,451

We believe it is reasonably possible that our unrecognized tax benefits may decrease by approximately $5.0 million within the next twelve months due to the expiration of the statute of limitations and the completion of examinations by taxing authorities. At September 30, 2012, we are not able to reasonably estimate the timing of future cash flows relating to our uncertain tax positions.