INCOME TAXES

The calculation of the effective tax rate is as follows (in thousands):



	Three months ended December 31,
	2018			2017
Loss before income taxes	$	(2,934	)	$	(6,733	)

Income tax benefit	(239		)	(1,071		)

Net loss	$	(2,695	)	$	(5,662	)

Effective tax rate	8		%	16		%

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. As a result, the U.S. federal statutory rate for Fiscal 2019 is 21%, compared to the blended statutory rate of 24.5% effective for Fiscal 2018.

For the three months ended December 31, 2018, the effective tax rate was negatively impacted by a foreign tax loss that is reserved with a valuation allowance. The effective tax rate for the three months ended December 31, 2017 was similarly impacted by a foreign tax loss reserved with a valuation allowance, as well as $0.7 million tax expense related to the re-measurement of U.S. deferred tax assets as a result of tax reform.