Note 14 — Income taxes

The following table summarizes the components of the provision for income taxes from continuing operations:


	2012			2011			2010
	(Dollars in thousands)
Current:
Federal	$	20,959		$	(2,604	)	$	(37,361	)
State		3,623			4,621			3,665
Foreign		30,476			48,600			51,674
Deferred:
Federal		(34,629	)		(20,584	)		(1,213	)
State		(720	)		(961	)		(2,568	)
Foreign		(3,296	)		(3,294	)		2,721

	$	16,413		$	25,778		$	16,918

In December 2011, the Company sold its cargo and container businesses and recorded a gain on sale of $217.8 million along with related taxes of $91.0 million. The gain and related taxes are reported as discontinued operations. A significant portion of these tax charges are included as part of the deferred tax liability for unremitted foreign earnings.

At December 31, 2012, the cumulative unremitted earnings of other subsidiaries outside the United States, considered permanently reinvested, for which no income or withholding taxes have been provided, approximated $677.0 million. Such earnings are expected to be reinvested indefinitely and, as a result, no deferred tax liability has been recognized with regard to such earnings. It is not practicable to estimate the income tax liability that might be incurred if such earnings were remitted to the United States.

The following table summarizes the U.S. and non-U.S. components of income from continuing operations before taxes:


	2012			2011			2010
	(Dollars in thousands)
United States	$	(315,928	)	$	(10,952	)	$	(10,337	)
Other		150,559			156,052			114,927

	$	(165,369	)	$	145,100		$	104,590

Reconciliations between the statutory federal income tax rate and the effective income tax rate are as follows:


	2012			2011			2010
Federal statutory rate		35.00	%		35.00	%		35.00	%
Goodwill Impairment		(60.84	)%		—			—
Tax effect of International items		11.88	%		(15.36	)%		(8.20	)%
State taxes, net of federal benefit		(0.90	)%		1.18	%		(0.48	)%
Uncertain tax contingencies		4.85	%		(2.66	)%		(3.33	)%
Other, net		0.08	%		(0.39	)%		(6.81	)%

		(9.93	)%		17.77	%		16.18	%

The effective income tax rate for 2012 was (9.9%) compared to 17.8% for 2011. The decrease in the effective tax rate for 2012 was impacted by the Company’s ability to deduct only $45 million of the $332 million goodwill impairment charge recorded in the first quarter of 2012. Accordingly, the reduction in the tax rate for 2012 reflects the Company’s ability to realize only a limited tax benefit related to this charge.

On January 2, 2013, the ‘fiscal cliff’ agreement was enacted into law extending several expired or expiring tax provisions retroactively to 2012. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, impacts of extensions are required to be reported by the Company in a quarter in which the legislation was enacted (i.e. first quarter of 2013). The Company is still quantifying the impact of the legislation, however, it estimates that the retroactive 2012 benefit of the law would be approximately $0.9 million.

The Company and its subsidiaries are routinely subject to examinations by various taxing authorities. In conjunction with these examinations and as a regular practice, the Company establishes and adjusts reserves with respect to its uncertain tax positions to address developments related to those positions. The Company realized a net benefit of approximately $8.0 million, $3.9 million and $3.5 million in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, as a result of reducing its reserves with respect to uncertain tax positions. These reductions principally resulted from the conclusion of various audits, the expiration of a number of applicable statutes of limitations and adjustments to reserves for prior tax years.

In the third quarter of 2010, the Company determined that an out-of-period adjustment associated with tax returns filed and tax audit conclusions was required, which reduced income tax expense by approximately $5.7 million. Management determined that this adjustment was not material on a quantitative or qualitative basis to the prior period financial statements.

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities at year end were as follows:


	2012			2011
	(Dollars in thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
Tax loss and credit carryforwards	$	87,537		$	70,452
Pension		63,737			74,775
Reserves and accruals		39,502			42,272
Other		21,275			25,808
Less: valuation allowances		(70,469	)		(66,305	)

Total deferred tax assets		141,582			147,002

Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment		24,440			24,877
Intangibles — stock acquisitions		325,244			317,271
Unremitted foreign earnings		151,780			166,764
Other		13,130			18,681

Total deferred tax liabilities		514,594			527,593

Net deferred tax liability	$	(373,012	)	$	(380,591	)

Under the tax laws of various jurisdictions in which the Company operates, deductions or credits that cannot be fully utilized for tax purposes during the current year may be carried forward, subject to statutory limitations, to reduce taxable income or taxes payable in a future tax year. At December 31, 2012, the tax effect of such carry forwards approximated $87.5 million. Of this amount, $12.3 million has no expiration date, $0.8 million expires after 2012 but before the end of 2017 and $74.4 million expires after 2017. A portion of these carry forwards consists of tax losses and credits which were acquired in acquisitions by the Company and the utilization of these tax attributes are subject to an annual limitation imposed by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, which limits a company’s ability to deduct prior net operating losses following a more than 50 percent change in ownership. The Hotspur Technologies acquisition in June 2012 included $10.8 million of tax losses, $2.5 million of which will not be realized as a result of the Section 382 limitation. A full valuation allowance on this component of the acquired tax losses was recorded in conjunction with the acquisition. Except as described above, with respect to Hotspur Technologies, it is not expected that the Section 382 limitation will prevent the Company from utilizing its loss carryforwards. The determination of state net operating loss carry forwards is dependent upon the U.S. subsidiaries’ taxable income or loss, apportionment percentages and other respective state laws, which can change from year to year and impact the amount of such carry forward.

The valuation allowance for deferred tax assets of $70.5 million and $66.3 million at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively, relates principally to the uncertainty of the Company’s ability to utilize certain deferred tax assets, primarily tax loss and credit carry forwards in various jurisdictions. The valuation allowance was calculated in accordance with accounting standards, which require that a valuation allowance be established and maintained when it is “more likely than not” that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Uncertain Tax Positions: A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances for liabilities associated with unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:


	2012			2011			2010
	(Dollars in thousands)
Balance at January 1	$	75,026		$	89,281		$	113,232
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits related to prior years		7,645			1,855			6,226
Decrease in unrecognized tax benefits related to prior years		(6,134	)		(6,415	)		(10,887	)
Unrecognized tax benefits related to the current year		4,256			4,246			1,956
Reductions in unrecognized tax benefits due to settlements		(8,816	)		(7,678	)		(2,011	)
Reductions in unrecognized tax benefits due to lapse of applicable statute of limitations		(3,503	)		(5,852	)		(16,209	)
Increase (decrease) in unrecognized tax benefits due to foreign currency translation		169			(411	)		(3,026	)

Balance at December 31	$	68,643		$	75,026		$	89,281

The total liabilities associated with the unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized would impact the effective tax rate for continuing operations, were $26.5 million at December 31, 2012.

The Company accrues interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense in the consolidated statements of operations, and the corresponding liability is included in the consolidated balance sheets. The interest (benefit) expense (net of related tax benefits where applicable) and penalties reflected in income from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2012 was $0.8 million and $0.2 million, respectively, ($(0.1) million and $0.3 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2011 and $(2.5) million and $1.8 million, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2010). The corresponding liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets for interest and penalties were $6.7 million and $9.2 million, respectively, at December 31, 2012 ($11.8 million and $9.2 million, respectively, at December 31, 2011).

The taxable years that remain subject to examination by major tax jurisdictions are as follows:


	Beginning		Ending
United States		2007		2012
Canada		2005		2012
China		2007		2012
Czech Republic		2001		2012
France		2010		2012
Germany		2007		2012
Ireland		2008		2012
Italy		2008		2012
Malaysia		2007		2012
Singapore		2006		2012

The Company and its subsidiaries are routinely subject to income tax examinations by various taxing authorities. As of December 31, 2012, the most significant tax examinations in process are in the jurisdictions of the U.S., Canada, the Czech Republic and Austria. The date at which these examinations may be concluded and the ultimate outcome of such examinations is uncertain. As a result of the uncertain outcome of these ongoing examinations, future examinations or the expiration of statutes of limitation, it is reasonably possible that the related unrecognized tax benefits for tax positions taken could materially change from those recorded as liabilities at December 31, 2012. Due to the potential for resolution of certain examinations, and the expiration of various statutes of limitation, it is reasonably possible that the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits may change within the next twelve months by a range of zero to $7.6 million.