Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2019

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (2017 Tax Act) was signed into law on December 22, 2017 and its provisions are generally effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2018. The most significant impacts of the 2017 Tax Act to the Company include a decrease in the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, and a one-time mandatory transition tax on deemed repatriation of previously tax-deferred and unremitted foreign earnings. On December 22, 2017, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (SAB 118) related to the income tax accounting implications of the 2017 Tax Act, which provides guidance on accounting for the 2017 Tax Act’s impact. In accordance with SAB 118, the Company recorded a provisional net income tax expense of $7,487,000, including the impact of state taxes, in the fourth quarter of 2017, which consisted of a provisional amount for the one-time mandatory transition tax of $10,303,000, partially offset by a provisional net tax benefit of $2,816,000 for the re-measurement of the Company's deferred income tax assets and liabilities at the 21% federal corporate income tax rate. During 2018, the Company completed its accounting for the 2017 Tax Act under the SAB 118 guidance and recorded a net reduction of $138,000 to the 2017 provisional amount related to the one-time mandatory transition tax.

While the 2017 Tax Act provides for a territorial tax system, beginning in 2018, it includes two new U.S. tax base erosion provisions, Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) and Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT). The Company has elected to account for the GILTI tax in the period in which it is incurred and, therefore, has not provided the deferred income tax impact of GILTI in its consolidated financial statements. In addition, the Company is not subject to the minimum tax pursuant to the BEAT provisions, but may be subject to such provision in the future.

The components of income before provision for income taxes are as follows:



(In thousands)	December 28, 2019		December 29, 2018			December 30, 2017
Domestic	$	93	$	(397	)	$	2,797
Foreign	68,829		79,925			54,856
	$	68,922	$	79,528		$	57,653

The components of the provision for income taxes are as follows:



(In thousands)	December 28, 2019			December 29, 2018			December 30, 2017
Current (Benefit) Provision:
Federal	$	(264	)	$	724		$	7,835
Foreign	18,778			21,829			17,372
State	335			169			285
	18,849			22,722			25,492
Deferred (Benefit) Provision:
Federal	(453		)	(2,551		)	4,682
Foreign	(1,253		)	(1,761		)	(3,563		)
State	(785		)	72			(541		)
	(2,491		)	(4,240		)	578
	$	16,358		$	18,482		$	26,070

The Company receives a tax deduction upon the exercise of nonqualified stock options and the vesting of RSUs. The Company recognizes excess income tax benefits and tax deficiencies related to stock-based compensation arrangements as discrete items within the provision for income taxes in the reporting period in which they occur. The Company recognized an income tax benefit of $3,807,000 in 2019, $1,097,000 in 2018 and $608,000 in 2017 in the Company's accompanying consolidated statement of income.

The provision for income taxes in the accompanying statement of income differs from the provision calculated by applying the statutory federal income tax rate to income before provision for income taxes due to the following:



(In thousands)	December 28, 2019			December 29, 2018			December 30, 2017
Provision for Income Taxes at Statutory Rate (21% in 2019 and 2018 and 35% in 2017)	$	14,474		$	16,701		$	20,179
Increases (Decreases) Resulting From:
State income taxes, net of federal tax	(355		)	164			151
U.S. tax cost of foreign earnings	146			1,215			761
Foreign tax rate differential	2,584			3,158			(3,747		)
(Reversal of) provision for tax benefit reserves, net	(286		)	(1,785		)	1,517
Change in valuation allowance	81			141			(341		)
Nondeductible expenses	2,454			781			1,177
Research and development tax credits	(381		)	(445		)	(297		)
Excess tax benefit related to stock-based compensation	(3,352		)	(967		)	(581		)
Impact of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act	—			(106		)	7,093
Other	993			(375		)	158
	$	16,358		$	18,482		$	26,070

Net deferred tax liability in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet consists of the following:



(In thousands)	December 28, 2019			December 29, 2018
Deferred Tax Asset:
Foreign, state, and alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards	$	776		$	184
Reserves and accruals	3,007			3,555
Net operating loss carryforwards	12,478			12,785
Inventory basis difference	4,107			3,692
Capitalized research expenses	2,813			—
Research and development	65			—
Employee compensation	3,630			4,382
Allowance for doubtful accounts	351			482
Lease liabilities	7,543			—
Other	478			294
Deferred tax asset, gross	35,248			25,374
Less: valuation allowance	(8,531		)	(9,946		)
Deferred tax asset, net	26,717			15,428
Deferred Tax Liability:
Goodwill and intangible assets	(30,003		)	(28,060		)
Fixed asset basis difference	(4,557		)	(3,565		)
Provision for unremitted foreign earnings	(809		)	(1,124		)
Research and development	—			(54		)
ROU assets	(6,433		)	—
Other	(943		)	(619		)
Deferred tax liability	(42,745		)	(33,422		)
Net deferred tax liability	$	(16,028	)	$	(17,994	)

The deferred tax assets and liabilities are presented in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet within other assets and long-term deferred income taxes on a net basis by tax jurisdiction. The Company has established valuation allowances related to certain domestic and foreign deferred tax assets on deductible temporary differences, tax losses, and tax credit carryforwards. The valuation allowance at year-end 2019 was $8,531,000, consisting of $285,000 in the United States and $8,246,000 in foreign jurisdictions. The decrease in the valuation allowance in 2019 of $1,415,000 related primarily to tax rate changes and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Compliance with ASC 740 requires the Company to periodically evaluate the necessity of establishing or adjusting a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets depending on whether it is more likely than not that a related tax benefit will be realized in future periods. When assessing the need for a valuation allowance in a tax jurisdiction, the Company evaluates the weight of all available evidence to determine whether it is more likely than not

that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. As part of this evaluation, the Company considers its cumulative three-year history of earnings before income taxes, taxable income in prior carryback years, future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, prudent and feasible tax planning strategies, and expected future results of operations. As of year-end 2019, the Company continued to maintain a valuation allowance in the United States against a portion of its state net operating loss carryforwards due to the uncertainty of future profitability in state jurisdictions. As of year-end 2019, the Company maintained valuation allowances in certain foreign jurisdictions because of the uncertainty of future profitability within those foreign jurisdictions.

At year-end 2019, the Company had U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of $2,809,000 and $35,879,000, respectively, and foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $44,048,000. Of the U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards, $72,000 expires in 2036 and the remainder do not expire. The state net operating loss carryforwards begin to expire in 2020 and a portion does not expire. Of the foreign net operating loss carryforwards, $461,000 will expire in the years 2022 through 2024, and the remainder do not expire. The Company also had a carryforward of disallowed business interest expense of $2,151,000 from its acquisition of SMH in 2019 and foreign tax credits of $687,000, of which $120,000 came from the acquisition of SMH. The disallowed business interest expense carryforward does not expire, and the foreign tax credit carryforward begins to expire in 2024. The utilization of these tax attributes is limited to the Company’s future taxable income, and certain of these tax attributes are subject to an annual limitation as a result of the acquisition of SMH, which constitutes a change of ownership as defined under Internal Revenue Code Section 382.

At year-end 2019, the Company had approximately $240,302,000 of unremitted foreign earnings. During 2019, the Company repatriated $93,456,000 of previously taxed foreign earnings to the United States and recognized an associated tax benefit of $1,186,000. The Company intends to repatriate the distributable reserves of select foreign subsidiaries back to the United States and has recognized $783,000 of net tax expense on the estimated repatriation amount during 2019. Except for these select foreign subsidiaries, the Company intends to indefinitely reinvest $233,852,000 of these earnings of its international subsidiaries in order to support the current and future capital needs of their operations in the foreign jurisdictions, including the repayment of the Company’s foreign debt. The related foreign withholding taxes, which would be required if the Company were to remit these foreign earnings to the United States, would be approximately $5,790,000.

The Company operates within multiple tax jurisdictions and could be subject to audit in those jurisdictions. Such audits can involve complex income tax issues, which may require an extended period of time to resolve and may cover multiple years. In management's opinion, adequate provisions for income taxes have been made for all years subject to audit.

As of year-end 2019, the Company had $8,331,000 of unrecognized tax benefits which, if recognized, would reduce the effective tax rate. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits at year-end 2019 and year-end 2018 is as follows:



(In thousands)	December 28, 2019			December 29, 2018
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Beginning of Year	$	12,364		$	7,843
Gross Increases—Tax Positions in Prior Periods	615			1,019
Gross Decreases—Tax Positions in Prior Periods	(4,373		)	(390		)
Gross Increases—Current-period Tax Positions	804			7,344
Settlements	—			(131		)
Lapses of Statutes of Limitations	(1,094		)	(3,190		)
Currency Translation	15			(131		)
Unrecognized Tax Benefits, End of Year	$	8,331		$	12,364

A portion of the unrecognized tax benefits generated in 2019 is offset by deferred tax assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. The Company has accrued $1,717,000 at year-end 2019 and $2,087,000 at year-end 2018 for the potential payment of interest and penalties. The interest and penalties included in the accompanying consolidated statement of income was an expense of $420,000 in 2019 and $544,000 in 2018.

The Company is currently under audit in certain tax jurisdictions. It is reasonably possible that over the next fiscal year the amount of liability for unrecognized tax benefits may be reduced by up to $767,000 primarily from the expiration of tax statutes of limitations.

The Company remains subject to U.S. Federal income tax examinations for the tax years 2016 through 2019, and to non-U.S. income tax examinations for the tax years 2008 through 2019. In addition, the Company remains subject to state and local income tax examinations in the United States for the tax years 2004 through 2019.