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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES INCOME TAXES
In first nine months 2019, based on the statutory federal tax rate net of discrete federal and state taxes, we had an effective tax rate of 50.1%. The effective tax rate for first nine months 2019 was impacted by losses in certain jurisdictions where the Company presently has recorded a valuation allowance against the related tax benefit. Excluding this valuation allowance, our first nine months 2019 effective tax rate would have been a benefit of 25.3%. In first nine months 2019, the Company recorded net discrete tax expenses of $3.1 million related to the acquisition of the Research & Innovation ("R&I")
unit of Technicolor SA, the extinguishment of long-term debt, the filing of amended federal income tax returns and the sale of our Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc. ("Hillcrest") product business. Refer to Note 7, "Business Combinations and Other Transactions" and Note 9, "Long-Term Debt" for further discussion of these transactions. This is compared to an effective tax rate benefit of 74.4% based on the statutory federal tax rate net of discrete federal and state taxes during first nine months 2018. During first nine months 2018, we recorded discrete net benefits of $18.4 million related to share-based compensation, our sale of a commercial initiative and a benefit from the anticipated filing by the Company of amended tax returns in connection with the Competent Authority Proceeding (as defined in our 2018 Form 10-K).  Excluding these discrete benefits, the effective tax rate would have been a benefit of 19.7%.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the "Tax Reform Act") was signed into law. The Tax Reform Act imposes a 13.125% tax rate on income that qualifies as Foreign Derived Intangible Income ("FDII"). The reduction in benefit is primarily related to the differences in our FDII deduction between the periods. The difference in the FDII deduction between the periods was driven by the timing of income between book and tax mostly related to revenue recognition. On March 6, 2019, the IRS issued proposed regulations for FDII. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the proposed regulations and will record the impact, if any, as applicable. 
The effective tax rate reported in any given year will continue to be influenced by a variety of factors, including timing differences between the recognition of book and tax revenue, the level of pre-tax income or loss, the foreign vs. domestic classification of the Company’s customers, and any discrete items that may occur. The Company further notes that its tax positions could be altered by pending IRS regulations that could clarify certain provisions of the Tax Reform Act.
During first nine months 2019 and 2018, we paid approximately $11.5 million and $16.5 million, respectively, of foreign source withholding tax. Additionally, as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, we included approximately $0.2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, of foreign source withholding tax within our taxes payable and deferred tax asset balances. These amounts are related to receivables from foreign licensees.