Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 24, 2011

Income Taxes [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

NOTE 5. INCOME TAXES

On a quarterly basis, we estimate what our effective tax rate will be for the full fiscal year and record a quarterly income tax provision (benefit) based on the anticipated rate. As the year progresses, we refine our estimate based on the facts and circumstances of each tax jurisdiction. The effective tax rates for the quarters ended September 24, 2011 and September 25, 2010 were 39.4% and 42.8%, respectively. The year-to-date effective tax rates for the three quarters ended September 24, 2011 and September 25, 2010 were 39.3% and 40.3%, respectively. The decrease in effective tax rate in 2011 is due to the impact of estimated annual permanent book-to-tax differences and credits in relation to the projected annual pre-tax income.

We file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return as well as foreign and state tax returns on a consolidated, combined, or stand-alone basis depending upon the jurisdiction. We have concluded tax examinations for U.S. federal and Oregon state filings through the tax years ended December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2006, respectively. Depending on the jurisdiction, we are no longer subject to state examinations by tax authorities other than Oregon for years prior to the 2005 and 2006 tax years. We are not subject to foreign tax examinations prior to the year ended December 31, 2008.