INCOME TAXES

Our income tax provision was $1.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018. Included in this provision was a net tax benefit discretely related to the three months ended December 31, 2018 of $0.1 million, primarily a result of expiring statute of limitations of uncertain tax benefits as well as excess tax benefits recognized on stock compensation. For the three months ended December 31, 2018, our effective tax rate before items discretely related to the period was less than the U.S. statutory rate due primarily to certain income tax credits generated in the U.S.

In comparison, the income tax provision was $2.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017. Included in this provision was a net tax expense discretely related to the three months ended December 31, 2017 of $2.8 million, primarily as a result of new U.S. tax legislation that was enacted during the first quarter of fiscal 2018. For the three months ended December 31, 2017, our effective tax rate before items discretely related to the period was less than the U.S. statutory rate primarily due to the mix of income between taxing jurisdictions, certain of which had lower statutory tax rates than the U.S., and certain tax credits generated in the U.S.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”) was enacted in the U.S. on December 22, 2017. The Act lowered the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% as of January 1, 2018 and required companies to pay a one-time transition tax on earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries that previously were tax deferred. We applied the guidance in SAB 118 when accounting for the enactment-date income tax effects of the Act in fiscal 2018. At September 30, 2018, we had not fully completed our accounting for the enactment effects of the Act. We, however, had recorded a provisional estimate of the effects on our existing deferred tax balances and the one-time transition tax. The provisional tax expense recorded in fiscal 2018 was $3.0 million. At December 31, 2018, we had completed our accounting for the enactment-date income tax effects of the Act. In fiscal 2019, there have been no significant adjustments to the provisional amounts recorded in fiscal 2018. In addition, certain provisions of the Act became effective for us in fiscal 2019. The estimated tax impacts of these provisions are included in out effective tax rate for the current period.

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 discretely related 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.

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



Unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2018	$	1,561
Decreases related to:
Expiration of statute of limitations	(56		)
Unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2018	$	1,505

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect our effective tax rate is $1.4 million, after considering the impact of interest and deferred benefit items. We expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will decrease by approximately $0.1 million over the next 12 months.