Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 29, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Taxes

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

	Three-months Ended
	April 4, 2021		March 29, 2020
Income tax expense at U.S. federal statutory corporate tax rate	21	%	21	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	2	%	1	%
Foreign tax rate differential	(5)	%	(6)	%
Tax credit	(1)	%	(1)	%
Discrete tax benefit related to stock options	(7)	%	(7)	%
Other discrete adjustments	—	%	1	%
Other	1	%	2	%
Income tax expense	11	%	11	%

The Company recorded discrete tax benefits arising from the difference between the deduction for tax purposes and the compensation cost recognized for financial reporting purposes from stock exercises that resulted in a favorable impact to the effective tax rate of 7% for both of the three-month periods ended April 4, 2021 and March 29, 2020. In addition to stock exercises, other discrete adjustments recorded during the three-month period ended March 29, 2020 included the final true-up of the prior year's tax accrual upon filing the related tax return that resulted in an unfavorable impact to the effective tax rate of 1%.

Excluding the impact of these discrete items, the Company’s effective tax rate was 18% of pre-tax income for the three-month period ended April 4, 2021 compared to 17% for the same period in 2020. The increase in the effective tax rate, excluding the impact of discrete items, was due to a higher percentage of the Company's pre-tax income being earned and taxed in higher tax jurisdictions.

During the three-month period ended April 4, 2021, the Company recorded a $478,000 increase in reserves for income taxes, net of deferred tax benefit. Estimated interest and penalties included in these amounts totaled $183,000 for the three-month period ended April 4, 2021.

The Company’s reserve for income taxes, including gross interest and penalties, was $15,780,000 as of April 4, 2021, which included $14,752,000 classified as a non-current liability and $1,028,000 recorded as a reduction to non-current deferred tax assets. The amount of gross interest and penalties included in these balances was $1,528,000. 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. As a result of the expiration of certain statutes of limitations, there is a potential that a portion of these reserves could be released, which would decrease income tax expense by approximately $450,000 to $500,000 over the next twelve months.

The Company has defined its major tax jurisdictions as the United States, Ireland, China, and Korea, and within the United States, Massachusetts. The statutory tax rate is 12.5% in Ireland, 25% in China, and 25% in Korea compared to the U.S. federal statutory corporate tax rate of 21%. These differences resulted in a favorable impact to the effective tax rate of 5% for the three-month period ended April 4, 2021, and 6% for the same period in 2020.

Within the United States, the tax years 2017 through 2019 remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and various state tax authorities. The tax years 2016 through 2019 remain open to examination by various taxing authorities in other jurisdictions in which the Company operates. The Company has been previously notified that it is under audit by the IRS for the tax year 2017. Additionally, the Company has been recently notified that it is under audit by the IRS for tax year 2018, as well as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Revenue for tax years 2017 and 2018. Management believes the Company is adequately reserved for these audits. The final determination of tax audits could result in favorable or unfavorable changes in our estimates.