Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 25, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company’s effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2021 was 26 percent compared with 24 percent for the same period last year.  The primary items impacting the effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2021 were increases related to the provision for state income taxes, net of the federal benefit, of $8.5 million and the effect of foreign tax rates higher than statutory tax rates and other foreign items of $5.6 million. These items were partially offset by $2.2 million of other items.

The items impacting the effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2020 were the provision for state income taxes, net of the federal benefit, of $1.4 million and other items of $0.4 million.

The Company’s effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2021 was 26 percent compared with 25 percent for the same period last year. The items impacting the effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2021 were primarily attributable to the provision for state income taxes, net of the federal benefit, of $16.3 million and the effect of foreign tax rates higher than statutory tax rates and other foreign items of $8.7 million. These items were partially offset by $2.5 million of other items.

The items impacting the effective tax rate for the first nine months of 2020 were primarily related to the provision for state income taxes, net of the federal benefit, of $4.8 million, the effect of foreign tax rates higher than statutory tax rates of $1.7 million, and $0.6 million of other items.

The Company files a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return and numerous consolidated and separate-company income tax returns in many state, local, and foreign jurisdictions. The statute of limitations is open for the Company’s federal tax returns for 2015 and 2017 and all subsequent years. The statutes of limitations for most state returns are open for 2017 and all subsequent years, and some state and foreign returns are also open for some earlier tax years due to differing statute periods. The Internal Revenue Service recently completed its audit of the Company’s 2015 and 2017 federal consolidated returns, which resulted in no material impact to the financial statements. While the Company believes that it is adequately reserved for possible audit adjustments, the final resolution of these examinations cannot be determined with certainty and could result in final settlements that differ from current estimates.