Taxes

A reconciliation of the United States federal statutory corporate tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate, or income tax provision, was as follows:



	Three-months Ended
	April 5, 2015		March 30, 2014
Income tax provision at federal statutory rate	35	%	35	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	1	%	1	%
Foreign tax rate differential	(17	)%	(17	)%
Discrete tax events	(1	)%	—	%
Income tax provision	18	%	19	%

The effective tax rate for the three-month period ended April 5, 2015 included the impact of one discrete tax event, whereby the Company recorded a decrease in tax expense of $364,000 from the expiration of the statutes of limitations for certain reserves for income tax uncertainties. This discrete event decreased the effective tax rate from a provision of 19% to a provision of 18% for the three-month period ended April 5, 2015.

During the three-month period ended April 5, 2015, the Company recorded a $211,000 decrease in reserves for income taxes, net of deferred tax benefit, including a reduction to additional paid in capital of $48,000 and a reduction in income tax expense of $163,000. Included in this net decrease is the discrete event noted above. Estimated interest and penalties included in these amounts totaled $15,000 for the three-month period ended April 5, 2015.

In the first quarter of 2014, management adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2013-11, "Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists." This ASU requires companies to present an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion thereof, as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss (NOL) carryforward or a similar tax loss or tax credit carryforward. In the first quarter of 2014, the Company reclassified a reserve for income taxes of $1,028,000 as a reduction to noncurrent deferred tax assets in compliance with this new guidance. Retroactive application was not required under this ASU, and therefore, prior periods were not restated.

The Company’s reserve for income taxes, including gross interest and penalties, was $5,400,000 as of April 5, 2015, which included $4,372,000 classified as a noncurrent liability and $1,028,000 recorded as a reduction to noncurrent deferred tax assets. The amount of gross interest and penalties included in these balances was $494,000. If the Company’s tax positions were sustained or the statutes of limitations related to certain positions expired, these reserves would be released and income tax expense would be reduced in a future period, less $616,000 that would be recorded through additional paid-in capital. As a result of the expiration of certain statutes of limitations and the conclusion of the IRS examination, there is a potential that a portion of these reserves could be released, which would decrease income tax expense by approximately $550,000 to $650,000 over the next twelve months.

The Company has defined its major tax jurisdictions as the United States, Ireland, China, and Japan, and within the United States, Massachusetts and California. Within the United States, the tax years 2012 through 2014 remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service, while the tax years 2011 through 2014 remain open to various state taxing authorities, and the tax years 2010 through 2014 remain open to examination by various taxing authorities in other jurisdictions in which the Company operates.