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INCOME TAXES
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES INCOME TAXES

The effective income tax rate for the second quarter and the first six months of 2019 was expense of 13.9% and 13.7% compared to expense of 12.0% and 12.8% for the second quarter and first six months of 2018. The increase in the effective tax rate in the second quarter and first six months of 2019 was due to greater levels of income in higher tax jurisdictions.

As the Company has previously disclosed, Eaton's United States subsidiaries ("Eaton US") received a Notice in 2014 from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") for tax years 2007 through 2010 which included proposed assessments involving two issues: the recognition of income for several of Eaton US's controlled foreign corporations, and transfer pricing adjustments for products manufactured in the Company's facilities in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and sold to affiliated companies located in the United States. The Company believed the proposed assessments were without merit and contested both matters in the United States Tax Court ("Tax Court"). Eaton US and the IRS both moved for partial summary judgment on the controlled foreign corporation income recognition issue. The Tax Court heard oral arguments on the motions in January 2018, following which the Court ordered further briefing, which was completed in March 2018. On February 25, 2019, the Tax Court granted the IRS's motion for partial summary judgment and denied Eaton's. The Company intends to appeal the Tax Court's partial summary judgment decision to the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Company believes that it will be successful on appeal and has not recorded any additional impact of the Tax Court's decision in its consolidated financial statements. As previously disclosed, the transfer pricing issue included in the Notice remains unresolved at this point. The total potential impact of the Tax Court's partial summary judgment decision on the controlled foreign corporation income recognition issue is not estimable until all matters in the open tax years have been resolved.