Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 15 - Income Taxes

We reorganized the Company in Bermuda in 1994 and many of our foreign subsidiaries are not directly or indirectly owned by a U.S. parent. As such, a large portion of our foreign income is not subject to U.S. taxation on a permanent basis under current law. Additionally, our intellectual property is largely owned by 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, 2023, income tax expense as a percentage of income before income tax was 17.9% compared to 19.1% for the same period last year. The year-over-year decrease in the effective tax rate is primarily due to a decrease in tax expense for discrete items, partially offset by shifts in the mix of income in our various tax jurisdictions. For the six months ended August 31, 2023, income tax expense as a percentage of income before income tax was 16.8% compared to 18.2% for the same period last year primarily due to a decrease in tax expense for discrete items, partially offset by shifts in the mix of income in our various tax jurisdictions.