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10. Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
10.    INCOME TAXES
 
Our effective income tax rate was 33% and 28% for the three months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Our effective income tax rate was 36% and 30% for the first half of 2016 and 2015, respectively. The effective tax rate for the first half of 2016 was higher primarily because of an increase in taxes partly due to newly enacted tax rates in certain foreign jurisdictions. The effective tax rates for the second quarter and first half of 2015 included a tax benefit from the release of U.S. tax liabilities as a result of lapses of statutes of limitation.

Our foreign taxes result primarily from income earned in France and Switzerland. Many jurisdictions in which we operate including Switzerland, Russia, the U.K. and Singapore have statutory tax rates that are significantly lower than the U.S. statutory tax rate of 35%. Our effective tax rate may be impacted in the future, either favorably or unfavorably, by many factors including, but not limited to, changes to statutory tax rates, changes in tax laws or regulations, tax audits and settlements, and generation of tax credits.

Our income tax returns are audited by U.S. federal, state and foreign tax authorities. We are currently under examination by many of these tax authorities. There are differing interpretations of tax laws and regulations, and as a result, significant disputes may arise with these tax authorities involving issues of the timing and amount of deductions and allocations of income among various tax jurisdictions. We evaluate our exposures associated with our tax filing positions on a quarterly basis.

We record liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions. We do not believe any currently pending uncertain tax positions will have a material adverse effect on our condensed consolidated financial statements, although an adverse resolution of one or more of these uncertain tax positions in any period may have a material impact on the results of operations for that period.

As of June 30, 2016, based on the expected outcome of certain examinations or as a result of the expiration of statute of limitations for certain jurisdictions, we believe that within the next 12 months it is reasonably possible that our previously unrecognized tax benefits could decrease by approximately $4.1 million. Substantially all such amounts will impact our effective income tax rate.