13.

Income Taxes

The Company recorded income tax provisions associated with income from continuing operations of $1.5 million and $1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, representing effective tax rates of 32.7% and 33.0%, respectively. The Company recorded income tax provisions associated with income from continuing operations of $3.0 million and $2.7 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, representing effective tax rates of 30.7% and 30.5%, respectively. The difference between the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 35.0% and the Company’s effective tax rate for the three and six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 reflects the impact of state income taxes, permanent tax items such as valuation allowance releases associated with gains from our strategic investments and our available-for-sale securities portfolio and discrete tax benefits. Discrete tax benefits aggregated less than $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three and six months ended March 31, 2015, respectively, and less than $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three and six months ended March 31, 2014, respectively.

The discrete tax items in the fiscal 2015 six-month period includes a $0.2 million income tax benefit associated with the December 2014 signing of the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 which retroactively reinstated the federal research and development income tax credit, which had expired in December 2013.

The three and six-month periods ended March 31, 2015 income tax provisions included the impact of a $0.5 million gain from the sale of Intersect ENT with an offsetting reversal of a capital loss carryforward valuation allowance. The six months ended March 31, 2014 income tax provision includes the impact of gains related to two Vessix Vascular, Inc. contingent consideration payments totaling $0.7 million and gains related to certain debt securities in our available-for-sale securities portfolio of $0.1 million. Each of these gains has had a tax expense recognized which has been fully offset by the reversal of capital loss carryforward valuation allowances.

The Company did not have any discontinued operations activity in the three and six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014.

The total amount of unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate as of March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014, was $0.9 million in each period. Currently, the Company does not expect the liability for unrecognized tax benefits to change significantly in the next 12 months with the above balances classified on the condensed consolidated balance sheets in other long-term liabilities. Interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits are recorded in income tax expense.

The Company files income tax returns, including returns for its subsidiaries, in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and in various state jurisdictions. Uncertain tax positions are related to tax years that remain subject to examination. U.S. income tax returns for years prior to fiscal 2011 are no longer subject to examination by federal tax authorities. For tax returns for state and local jurisdictions, the Company is no longer subject to examination for tax years generally before fiscal 2004.