Note 11 — Income Taxes

The effective tax rate for the three months ended October 31, 2018 was 22.3%, compared to 24.4% for the three months ended October 31, 2017. The effective tax rate for the six months ended October 31, 2018 was 22.5% compared to 19.0% in the prior year period. The rate for the three months ended October 31, 2018 was lower than the prior year’s rate for the same period primarily due to the reduced statutory tax rate in the U.S., as well as, to a smaller extent, a more favorable earnings mix. The rate for the six months ended October 31, 2017 benefitted from large equity compensation deductions from significant vesting of restricted stock and other one-time adjustments. Excluding those items, the rate would have been 24.4% for the six months ended October 31, 2017 compared to 22.5% in the six months ended October 31, 2018, primarily due to the reduced statutory tax rate in the U.S. and more favorable earnings mix during the current period.

The Tax Act

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. government enacted comprehensive Federal tax legislation originally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the "Tax Act"). The Tax Act significantly revised the future ongoing U.S. corporate income tax system by, among other changes, the following:

lowering the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate to 21% with a potentially lower rate for certain foreign derived income,

accelerating deductions for certain business assets,

changing the U.S. system from a worldwide tax system,

requiring companies to pay a one-time transition tax on post-1986 unrepatriated cumulative non-U.S. earnings and profits ("E&P") of foreign subsidiaries,

eliminating certain deductions such as the domestic production deduction,

establishing limitations on the deductibility of certain expenses including interest and executive compensation, and

creating new taxes on certain foreign earnings.

In December 2017, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“SAB 118”), which allows us to record provisional amounts related to the Tax Act during a measurement period not to extend beyond one year of the enactment date. In fiscal year 2018, we estimated a provisional estimated net tax benefit of $25.1 million related to the Tax Act. We are still analyzing certain aspects of the Tax Act, including without limitation certain foreign tax credit related calculations and the state and local tax effect of deemed and actual repatriation as well as the new provisions mentioned below, and refining our calculations, including our estimates of expected reversals, which could affect the measurement of these balances and give rise to new deferred tax amounts. As the Tax Act was passed late in December 2017 and ongoing guidance and accounting interpretation are expected over the 12 months following enactment, we consider the accounting for the transition tax and other items included last year, as well as items described below which were included in the six months ended October 31, 2018, to be provisional due to the forthcoming guidance and our ongoing analysis of final data and tax positions. We expect to complete our analysis within the measurement period in accordance with SAB 118.

The Tax Act created new taxes, effective for us on May 1, 2018, including a provision designed to tax certain global income ("GILTI"), a base erosion anti-abuse tax ("BEAT") as well as a new deduction for certain foreign derived intangible income (“FDII”). We recorded a minor provisional benefit during the six months ended October 31, 2018. We expect to adjust this provisional amount as additional guidance is provided.