INCOME TAXES

Income tax provision for continuing operations was $0.4 million for the three month period ended December 31, 2015. Net tax benefits specific to the three months ended December 31, 2015 were $0.7 million resulting from the reinstatement of the federal research and development tax credit for calendar year 2015 and reversal of tax reserves due to the expiration of statutes of limitation from U.S. and foreign tax jurisdictions. For the three month period ended December 31, 2015, our continuing operations effective tax rate before items specific to the period was less than the U.S. statutory rate due primarily in the mix of income between taxing jurisdictions, certain of which have lower statutory tax rates than the U.S., and reinstatement of the federal research and development tax credit.

9. INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED)

Income tax benefit for continuing operations was $0.1 million for the three month period ended December 31, 2014. Net tax benefits specific to the period of $0.5 million included a reversal of reserves due to the expiration of statutes of limitation from U.S. and foreign tax jurisdictions and the reinstatement of the federal research and development tax credit for calendar year 2014. For the three month period ended December 31, 2014, our continuing operations effective tax rate before items specific to the period was more than the statutory rate primarily due to a mix of income between foreign jurisdications, an adjustment for certain foreign income taxes at the U.S. rate, and lower than expected benefits associated with certain state tax credits.

Our effective tax rate will vary based on a variety of factors, including overall profitability, the geographical mix of income before taxes and related statutory tax rate in each jurisdiction, and tax items specific to the period, such as settlements of audits. We expect that we may record other benefits or expenses in the future that are specific to a particular quarter such as expiration of statutes of limitation, the completion of tax audits, or legislation that is enacted for both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.

During the three months ending December 31, 2015, we adopted ASU 2015-17 on a prospective basis. As required by ASU 2015-17, all deferred tax assets and liabilities are classified on a jurisdictional basis as non-current in our condensed consolidated balance sheets, which is a change from our historical presentation whereby certain of our deferred tax assets and liabilities were classified as current and the remainder were classified as non-current. Our prior periods were not retrospectively adjusted.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is (in thousands):



Unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2015	$	1,618
Increases related to:
Prior year income tax positions	60
Decreases related to:
Expiration of statute of limitations	(121		)
Unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2015	$	1,557

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect our effective tax rate is $1.3 million, after considering the impact of interest and deferred benefit items. We expect the change in the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will be insignificant over the next 12 months.