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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

11. Income Taxes

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) was signed into U.S. Law. In December 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“SAB 118”), which allows the Company to record provisional amounts during a measurement period not to extend beyond one year of the enactment date. As of March 31, 2018, the Company has not completed its accounting for the tax effects of the enactment of the Tax Act; however, in certain cases, specifically as follows, the Company made a reasonable estimate of (i) the effects on its existing deferred tax balances and (ii) the effects of the one-time mandatory repatriation tax. The Company recognized a provisional tax expense of $35.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2017 associated with the items it could reasonably estimate. For the quarter ended March 31, 2018, the Company made an adjustment to its estimate related to executive compensation which resulted in $1.7 million of tax benefit. Due the timing of the release of the Tax Act, the complexity of the Tax Act and regulatory guidance that has recently been released and additional guidance expected to be released, the Company is still analyzing the Tax Act and refining its calculations, which could potentially impact the measurement of its income tax balances. The Company expects to complete its analysis within the measurement period in accordance with SAB 118.

At March 31, 2018, the Company has not yet determined its policy election with respect to whether to record deferred taxes for basis differences expected to reverse as a result of the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) provisions in future periods or use the period cost method. The Company has recorded $1.3 million of tax expense in the three months ended March 31, 2018 for the current impact of the GILTI provisions.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was 17%. The losses of the Company’s foreign entities for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $1.8 million. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was negatively impacted by losses in certain foreign jurisdictions taxed at lower rates and domestic taxes resulting from the current GILTI tax, partially offset by equity compensation tax benefits.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was 72%. The earnings of the Company’s foreign entities for the three months ended March 31, 2017 were $8.7 million. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was negatively impacted by profits in certain foreign jurisdictions taxed at lower rates and domestic losses taxed at higher rates, partially offset by losses in other foreign jurisdictions taxed at lower rates.

The Company’s effective tax rate could fluctuate significantly on a quarterly basis and could be negatively affected to the extent earnings are lower in the countries in which it operates that have a lower statutory rate or higher in the countries in which it operates that have a higher statutory rate or to the extent it has losses sustained in countries where the future utilization of losses are uncertain. The Company’s effective tax rate could also fluctuate due to changes in the valuation of its deferred tax assets or liabilities, or by changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles, or interpretations thereof. In addition, the Company is occasionally subject to examination of its income tax returns by tax authorities in the jurisdictions it operates. The Company regularly assesses the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of its provision for income taxes.

 

The amount of unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions was $27.5 million as of March 31, 2018 and $27.2 million as of December 31, 2017, excluding related liabilities for interest and penalties of $1.2 million as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.

The Company believes it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will decrease within the next 12 months by approximately $0.1 million, due to the settlement of various audits and the expiration of statutes of limitation.

The Company continues to evaluate the potential foreign and U.S. state tax liabilities that would result from future repatriations from non-U.S. subsidiaries, if any, and how the Tax Act will affect our existing accounting position with regard to the indefinite reinvestment of undistributed foreign earnings.