v3.20.4
INCOME TAXES
6 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES
9. Income Taxes
We apply an estimated annual effective tax rate to our year-to-date operating results to determine the interim provision for income tax expense. In addition, we recognize taxes related to unusual or infrequent items or resulting from a change in judgment regarding a position taken in a prior year as discrete items in the interim period in which the event occurs.
Our effective tax rates for both the three months ended February 28, 2021 and February 29, 2020 were 17.1%. Absent the $151,309 and $52,700 gains on our investment in Duck Creek Technologies and related $18,534 and $8,549 in tax expense, our effective tax rates for the three months ended February 28, 2021 and February 29, 2020 would have been 17.5% and 17.1%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three months ended February 28, 2021 included higher tax expense from adjustments to prior year tax liabilities, partially offset by changes in the geographic distribution of earnings and higher benefits from final determinations of prior year taxes. Our effective tax rates for the six months ended February 28, 2021 and February 29, 2020 were 20.4% and 20.6%, respectively. Absent the $271,009 and $113,192 gains on our investment in Duck Creek Technologies and related $41,440 and $18,732 in tax expense, our effective tax rates for both the six months ended February 28, 2021 and February 29, 2020 would have been 20.8%.