Income Tax

The Company's effective tax rates differed from the applicable U.S. federal income tax statutory rates of 21% and 35% as a result of the following for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively (dollars in thousands):



	Three months ended September 30,						Nine months ended September 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Tax provision at U.S. statutory rate	$	67,759		$	119,057		$	148,654		$	310,562
Increase (decrease) in income taxes resulting from:
U.S. Tax Reform provisional adjustments	664			—			(2,685		)	—
U.S. Tax Reform valuation allowance adjustments	(58,949		)	—			(59,139		)	—
Foreign tax rate differing from U.S. tax rate	7,537			(3,635		)	8,795			(14,049		)
Differences in tax bases in foreign jurisdictions	(2,371		)	2,126			(9,264		)	(14,633		)
Deferred tax valuation allowance	(5,334		)	(2,501		)	5,357			11,627
Amounts related to tax audit contingencies	1,851			299			650			(873		)
Corporate rate changes	(166		)	(1,139		)	30			(2,332		)
Subpart F	(99		)	64			211			1,390
Foreign tax credits	(544		)	1,230			(1,003		)	(834		)
Global intangible low-taxed income, net of credit	7,624			—			11,916			—
Equity compensation excess benefit	(817		)	(2,762		)	(5,067		)	(7,226		)
Return to provision adjustments	4,213			452			4,108			133
Other, net	94			(620		)	(492		)	(1,737		)
Total provision for income taxes	$	21,462		$	112,571		$	102,071		$	282,028
Effective tax rate	6.7		%	33.1		%	14.4		%	31.8		%

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“U.S. Tax Reform”) was signed into law. U.S. Tax Reform makes broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code, including but not limited to, (1) reducing the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%; (2) requiring companies to pay a one-time transition tax on certain unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries; (3) generally eliminating U.S. federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries; (4) eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) and changing how existing AMT credits can be realized; (5) creating the base erosion anti-abuse tax (“BEAT”); (6) establishing a new provision designed to tax global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”), which allows for the possibility of using foreign tax credits and a deduction of up to 50 percent to offset the income tax liability (subject to some limitations); and (7) changing rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carryforwards created in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.

The SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin 118 (“SAB 118”), which provides guidance on accounting for the tax effects of U.S. Tax Reform. SAB 118 provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from U.S. Tax Reform enactment date for companies to complete the accounting under Accounting Standards Codification 740 (“ASC 740”). In accordance with SAB 118, a company must reflect the income tax effects of those aspects of U.S. Tax Reform for which the accounting under ASC 740 is complete. To the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects of U.S. Tax Reform is incomplete but it is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in the financial statements. If a company cannot determine a provisional estimate to be included in the financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of U.S. Tax Reform.

The Company calculated a provisional estimate of the impact of U.S. Tax Reform for its 2017 financial statements. As of September 30, 2018, the Company has finalized certain aspects of U.S. Tax Reform including computing the pretax deferred tax items upon which the change in tax rate was applied, the one-time transition tax on unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries and the adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2018-02 (“ASU 2018-02”). The Company has refined provisional estimates related to excessive employee remuneration, which may be further refined during the fourth quarter. The Company also continues to monitor the issuance of new guidance in the form of Treasury Regulations or Notices which could impact the provisional balances recorded as of December 31, 2017. In addition to the amounts in the table above, the Company recorded an additional adjustment in the third quarter of 2018 related to ASU 2018-02, decreasing accumulated other comprehensive income and increasing retained earnings by approximately $2.6 million.

The Company provisionally estimated there would be no one-time transition tax on unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries. Upon review of the Proposed Treasury Regulations issued during the quarter and completion of the accumulated and current earnings and profits calculations of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries, no adjustment to the provisional estimate of the transition tax on unrepatriated earnings is necessary.

Companies subject to GILTI have the option to account for the GILTI tax as a period cost if and when incurred, or to recognize deferred taxes for temporary differences including outside basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI. The Company has not yet made a policy election to account for GILTI but included an estimate of the current GILTI impact in the tax provision. The Company continues to gather information and monitor guidance that may change the Company’s interpretation of the law and hence may result in a refinement to the calculation and changes to this amount.

The Company continues to evaluate the effects of the BEAT and is currently restructuring existing business flows to reduce the risk that the Company will be subject to the BEAT for 2018. The Company has estimated that the annual deductible payments to foreign affiliates as a percentage of annual estimated total deductions to be below the base erosion percentage threshold for application of the BEAT; therefore, the Company has not established an additional BEAT liability as of September 30, 2018. The Company continues to gather information and monitor guidance that may change the Company’s interpretation of the law and hence may result in a refinement to the calculation and changes to this amount.

The effective tax rate for the third quarter and first nine months of 2018 were lower than the U.S. Statutory rate of 21.0% primarily as a result of the release of a valuation allowance on foreign tax credits, which was partially offset by income earned in jurisdictions with statutory rates higher than the U.S. tax rate and tax expense related to GILTI. During the third quarter the Company released an uncertain tax position due to the expiration of the statute of limitations and established a new position. The foreign tax credits were used to offset the new uncertain tax liability, resulting in a valuation allowance no longer being necessary. $58.9 million of the release of the valuation allowance was previously established as part of U.S. Tax Reform. The effective tax rates for the third quarter and first nine months of 2017 were lower than the U.S. Statutory rate of 35% primarily as a result of income generated in non-U.S. jurisdictions with lower tax rates than the U.S. The first nine months of 2017 also included a reduction related to differences in tax bases in foreign jurisdictions and a tax benefit from the filing of amended returns, which was partially offset with a valuation allowance established related to amended return filings.