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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
The United States and international components of income before income taxes are as follows (in thousands):
 
 Years Ended September 30,
 202320222021
United States$268,314 $217,323 $189,398 
International217,674 168,070 197,539 
$485,988 $385,393 $386,937 
The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):
 
 Years Ended September 30,
 202320222021
Current
U.S. federal$115,170 $35,259 $53,107 
State18,359 14,592 16,686 
Foreign66,053 54,079 62,832 
Total199,582 103,930 132,625 
Deferred
U.S. federal(89,280)(28,721)(61,739)
State(18,576)(11,332)(15,294)
Foreign(686)(644)104 
Total(108,542)(40,697)(76,929)
$91,040 $63,233 $55,696 
The effective tax rate differs from the U.S. federal statutory rate as follows (in thousands):
 
 Years Ended September 30,
 202320222021
Income tax provision at statutory rate$102,058 $80,933 $81,257 
State taxes, net of federal benefit6,806 6,012 5,118 
Tax impact of foreign operations(20,230)(21,435)(26,881)
Research and development and other credits(19,198)(18,917)(18,055)
Stock-based and other compensation20,145 15,070 12,740 
Other1,459 1,570 1,517 
$91,040 $63,233 $55,696 
The Company does not maintain an indefinite reinvestment assertion on unremitted foreign earnings and has recorded a deferred tax liability for any estimated foreign, federal, or state tax liabilities associated with a future repatriation of foreign earnings.
The Company benefits from tax incentive arrangements in certain foreign jurisdictions, one of which expired in fiscal year 2021 and the rest of which expire in fiscal years 2026 to 2034. The tax incentive agreements are conditional upon meeting certain operational, employment, and investment requirements. These arrangements decreased foreign taxes by $6.0 million, $8.5 million and $6.0 million, and increased diluted earnings per common share by $0.10, $0.14 and $0.10 for the years ended September 30, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
The tax effects of the temporary differences that give rise to the deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):
 
 Years Ended September 30,
 20232022
Deferred tax assets
Net operating loss carry-forwards$40,201 $42,849 
Capitalized research and development costs267,744 158,206 
Accrued compensation and benefits11,995 14,068 
Stock-based compensation8,875 10,389 
Deferred revenue42,544 32,244 
Lease liabilities62,405 67,520 
Other accruals and reserves22,723 18,797 
Tax credit carryforwards23,883 28,858 
Depreciation531 505 
480,901 373,436 
Valuation allowance(43,942)(46,136)
436,959 327,300 
Deferred tax liabilities
Purchased intangibles(55,519)(57,350)
Depreciation(28,113)(22,278)
Deferred costs(11,031)(12,987)
Lease assets(41,709)(45,948)
Other accruals and reserves(9,916)(8,153)
(146,288)(146,716)
Net deferred tax assets$290,671 $180,584 
At September 30, 2023, the Company had foreign net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $56.9 million that can be carried forward indefinitely, and $0.3 million that will expire in fiscal years 2038 to 2039. The Company had $79.8 million of federal net operating loss carryforwards, of which $56.4 million can be carried forward indefinitely and $23.4 million that will expire in fiscal years 2033 to 2038. The annual utilization of the federal net operating loss carryforwards is limited under Internal Revenue Code Section 382. The Company also had $238.8 million of state net operating loss carryforwards, of which $47.0 million can be carried forward indefinitely and $191.8 million will expire in fiscal years 2029 to 2043. In addition, there are $0.2 million of foreign credit carryforwards that can be carried forward indefinitely, $3.2 million of foreign credit carryforwards that will expire in fiscal years 2024 to 2039, $3.2 million of federal credit carryforwards that will expire in fiscal years 2033 to 2041, $30.2 million of state tax credit carryforwards that can be carried forward indefinitely, and $3.7 million of state tax credit carryforwards that will expire in fiscal years 2032 to 2038. Management believes that it is more likely than not that the benefit from certain foreign net operating loss and credit carryforwards and state tax net operating loss and credit carryforwards will not be realized. In recognition of this risk, the Company has provided a valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets relating to these carryforwards. The net change in the total valuation allowance was a decrease of $2.2 million and an increase of $5.7 million for years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The Company recognizes the financial statement impact of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more likely than not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest impact that has a greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority.
The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits in fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):
202320222021
Balance, beginning of period$66,840 $70,814 $51,767 
Gross increases related to prior period tax positions4,270 4,816 14,867 
Gross decreases related to prior period tax positions(70)(10,538)— 
Gross increases related to current period tax positions9,224 10,203 12,595 
Decreases relating to settlements with tax authorities(300)— (321)
Reductions due to lapses of statute of limitations(797)(8,455)(8,094)
Balance, end of period$79,167 $66,840 $70,814 
The total amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits was $79.2 million, $66.8 million, and $70.8 million as of September 30, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, of which, $51.2 million, $43.2 million, and $39.2 million, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate. There is a reasonable possibility that the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits will change within twelve months due to audit settlements or the expiration of statute of limitations, but the Company does not expect the change to be material to the consolidated financial statements. 
The Company recognizes interest and, if applicable, penalties (not included in the “unrecognized tax benefits” table above) for any uncertain tax positions. Interest and penalties are recorded as a component of income tax expense. In the years ended September 30, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the Company recorded approximately a $3.3 million increase, $1.5 million decrease and $1.4 million increase, respectively, of interest and penalty expense related to uncertain tax positions. As of September 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company had a cumulative balance of accrued interest and penalties on unrecognized tax positions of $6.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively.
The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as the income tax of multiple state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company has concluded all U.S. federal income tax matters for fiscal years through September 30, 2018. Major jurisdictions where there are wholly owned subsidiaries of F5, Inc. which require income tax filings include the United Kingdom, Singapore, Israel, and India. The earliest periods open for review by local taxing authorities are fiscal years 2022 for the United Kingdom, 2018 for Singapore, 2013 for Israel, and 2018 for India. The Company is currently under audit by the Internal Revenue Service for fiscal year 2019, by various states for fiscal years 2015 through 2022, and by various foreign jurisdictions including India for fiscal years 2018 to 2022, Israel for fiscal years 2013 to 2017, Saudi Arabia for fiscal years 2015 to 2020, and Singapore for fiscal years 2019 to 2020.