Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
 
For the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, our provision for income taxes, as a percentage of income before income taxes was 41.0 percent and 79.5 percent, respectively, compared with U.S. federal statutory rates of 21.0 percent.
 
The difference between the effective tax rate and the U.S. federal statutory tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019, was primarily attributed to current year foreign losses that presently do not provide future tax benefit, as well as net unfavorable foreign items.
 
The difference between the effective tax rate and the U.S. federal statutory tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018, was primarily attributed to foreign losses in the period, primarily related to China, that did not provide future tax benefit as well as net unfavorable foreign items.

As the U.S. Department of the Treasury is working on finalizing Treasury Regulations with respect to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Tax Reform Act), future changes could likewise affect recorded deferred tax assets and liabilities in later periods. Management is not aware of any such additional changes that would have a material effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial position.

Our U.S. federal income tax returns for 2015 through 2017, are open to examination for federal tax purposes. We have several foreign tax jurisdictions that have open tax years from 2012 through 2018.
 
As of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we had accrued $2.1 million and $2.2 million, respectively, related to unrecognized tax positions. This net decrease was primarily attributed to decreases in foreign tax contingencies.
 
Interim income taxes are based on an estimated annualized effective tax rate applied to the respective quarterly periods, adjusted for discrete tax items in the period in which they occur. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, we can make no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different from that which we have reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals. Such differences could have a material impact on our income tax provision and operating results in the period in which we make such determination.