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Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 18 - Income Taxes

The period-over-period comparison of our effective tax rate is often impacted by the mix of taxable income in our various tax jurisdictions. Due to our organization in Bermuda and the ownership structure of our foreign subsidiaries, many of which are not owned directly or indirectly by a U.S. parent company, an immaterial amount of our foreign income is subject to U.S. taxation on a permanent basis under current law. Additionally, our intellectual property is largely owned by our foreign subsidiaries, resulting in proportionally higher earnings in jurisdictions with lower statutory tax rates, which decreases our overall effective tax rate. The taxable income earned in each jurisdiction, whether U.S. or foreign, is determined by the subsidiary's operating results, and transfer pricing and tax regulations in the related jurisdictions.
For interim periods, our income tax expense and resulting effective tax rate are based upon an estimated annual effective tax rate adjusted for the effects of items required to be treated as discrete to the period, including changes in tax laws, changes in estimated exposures for uncertain tax positions and other items.
For the three months ended August 31, 2020, income tax expense as a percentage of income before income tax was 9.6% compared to 10.3% for the same period last year. The year-over-year decrease in the effective tax rate is primarily due to benefits recognized from the transition of our Macau entity from offshore to onshore status and shifts in the mix of our taxable income in our various tax jurisdictions, partially offset by increases in liabilities related to uncertain tax positions.
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was enacted and signed into law. The CARES Act is an emergency economic stimulus package in response to the
COVID-19 outbreak that contains numerous tax provisions. Among other things, the CARES Act included technical corrections to the effective date language in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) related to net operating loss carrybacks.

Upon the enactment of the Tax Act in fiscal 2018, there was a net operating loss on our balance sheet, which was measured using the U.S. statutory tax rate in effect prior to enactment. As a result of the Tax Act, we were required to record a one-time charge of $17.9 million in fiscal 2018, which included a charge of $9.4 million to remeasure the net operating loss at the reduced rate at which it was expected to reverse in the future. The CARES Act effectively reversed the impact of the Tax Act on our net operating loss, resulting in a corresponding tax benefit of $9.4 million recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2021. For the six months ended August 31, 2020, income tax expense as a percentage of income before income tax was 1.6% compared to income tax expense of 9.0% for the same period last year, primarily due to this benefit. Income tax expense for the six months ended August 31, 2020 also includes other discrete benefits to include reductions of U.S. BEAT tax (Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse) and GILTI tax (Global Intangible Low-Tax Income), the recognition of excess tax benefits from share-based compensation settlements, and one-time benefits related to the transition of our Macau entity from offshore to onshore status, partially offset by increases in liabilities related to uncertain tax positions.

During fiscal 2017, we received an assessment from a state tax authority which adjusted taxable income applicable to the particular state resulting from interpretations of certain state income tax provisions applicable to our legal structure.  During the time the dispute was ongoing, we believe we accurately reported our taxable income and vigorously protested the assessment through administrative processes with the state.  During the quarter, we received a settlement offer from the state tax authority. In September 2020, we reached an agreement in principle to settle the $6.0 million assessment in dispute for $0.5 million.

Our Macau subsidiary generates income from the sale of the goods that it has sourced and procured. This subsidiary is responsible for the sourcing and procurement of a large portion of the products that we sell. We currently have an indefinite tax holiday in Macau conditioned on the subsidiary meeting certain employment and investment thresholds. The Macau Offshore Law and its supplementary regulations that grant tax incentives to approved offshore institutions will be abolished on January 1, 2021. Existing approved offshore institutions such as ours can continue to operate under the offshore regime until the end of the calendar year 2020. Beginning in calendar year 2021, our Macau subsidiary will transition to onshore status and become subject to a statutory corporate income tax of approximately 12%. We expect the impact of this change to increase our overall effective tax rate by 1.5 to 2.0 percentage points on an annual basis, beginning with our fiscal 2022. Because our Macau subsidiary is not directly or indirectly owned by a U.S. parent, there is no U.S. tax liability associated with the income generated in Macau.