4.Income Taxes

The following table presents the Company’s provision for income taxes and effective income tax rate for the periods below:


	Three months ended						Nine months ended
	May 31,						May 31,
	2016			2015			2016			2015
Provision for income taxes	$	8,122		$	9,637		$	20,618		$	19,019
Effective income tax rate		34.6	%		32.0	%		34.8	%		33.2	%

The higher effective tax rate in both the third quarter and the first nine months of fiscal year 2016 was primarily attributable to the fiscal year 2015 effective rate being favorably impacted by the recognition of prior years’ federal tax deductions.