Income Tax Income Tax

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Income Tax

Provision for income tax expense differed from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal income tax statutory rate of 35% to pre-tax income as a result of the following for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 (dollars in thousands):



	Three months ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Tax provision at U.S. statutory rate	$	72,745		$	37,653
Increase (decrease) in income taxes resulting from:
Foreign tax rate differing from U.S. tax rate	(6,153		)	(3,884		)
Differences in tax bases in foreign jurisdictions	(3,383		)	(8,935		)
Deferred tax valuation allowance	1,182			4,999
Amounts related to tax audit contingencies	611			602
Corporate rate changes	(1,237		)	(65		)
Subpart F	186			696
Foreign tax credits	(126		)	(293		)
Return to provision adjustments	229			125
Equity compensation excess benefit	(1,856		)	—
Other, net	134			210
Total provision for income taxes	$	62,332		$	31,108
Effective tax rate	30.0		%	28.9		%

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was lower than the U.S. Statutory rate of 35.0% primarily as a result of income in non-U.S. jurisdictions with lower tax rates than the U.S., and the impact of adopting newly-effective accounting guidance related to stock compensation as of January 1, 2017. As a result of the adoption, the excess tax benefits related to share-based awards are now recorded in income tax expense rather than deferred tax liabilities. See Note 12 - “New Accounting Standards” for additional information. The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was lower than the U.S. Statutory rate of 35.0% primarily as a result of tax benefits from income in non-U.S. jurisdictions with lower tax rates than the U.S. and differences in tax bases in foreign jurisdictions.