Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company’s provision for income taxes is based upon estimated annual tax rates for the year applied to federal, state and foreign income. The provision for income taxes decreased to $27.9 million in the second quarter of 2016 from $28.9 million in the same period of 2015. The effective tax rate decreased to 26.9% for the second quarter of 2016 compared to 29.4% in the same period of 2015 due to the early adoption of ASU 2016-09 and the related tax effects of share based payments now recognized in income, the enactment of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 on December 18, 2015 which, beginning in 2015, permanently extended the U.S. Research and Development credit, as well as the mix of global pre-tax income among jurisdictions.

The Company’s provision for income taxes is based upon estimated annual tax rates for the year applied to federal, state and foreign income. The provision for income taxes decreased to $52.6 million in the six months ended June 30, 2016 from $55.8 million in the same period of 2015. The effective tax rate decreased to 26.8% for the six months ended June 30, 2016 compared to 29.2% in the same period of 2015 due to the mix of global pre-tax income among jurisdictions. Additionally, the effective tax rate for the current year period was favorably impacted by the early adoption of ASU 2016-09 and the related tax effects of share based payments now recognized in income and the effective tax rate for the comparable period of the prior year was favorably impacted by the enactment of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 on December 18, 2015 which, beginning in 2015, permanently extended the U.S. Research and Development credit.

The Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various state and foreign jurisdictions. Due to the potential for resolution of federal, state and foreign examinations, and the expiration of various statutes of limitation, it is reasonably possible that the Company’s gross unrecognized tax benefits balance may change within the next twelve months by a range of zero to $4.1 million.