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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2021
Income Taxes [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 13 Income Taxes

The effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2021 was 19.1% and 14.9%, respectively, compared with 20.7% and 20.3% for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2020, respectively. The decrease in the three-month tax rate as compared to the prior year was primarily attributed to a higher tax rate applicable to the tax benefits from restructuring costs related to our Business Optimization Program, substantially all of which were incurred in the U.S.  The decrease for the nine months ended January 31, 2021 primarily resulted from our carry back of our U.S. net operating loss (“NOL”) in connection with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) and certain regulations issued in late July 2020.

In connection with the CARES Act and certain regulations, we carried back our April 30, 2020 U.S. NOL to our year ended April 30, 2015 and claimed a $20.7 million refund and is reflected in Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets on our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position as of January 31, 2021. This refund was received on February 9, 2021. The NOL was carried back to fiscal year 2015 when the U.S. corporate tax rate was 35%. The carryback to a year with a higher rate, plus certain additional net permanent deductions included in the carryback resulted in a $14.0 million tax benefit. As described below, the benefit for the nine months ended January 31, 2021 was partially offset by an increase in the U.K. statutory rate.

During the three months ended July 31, 2020, the U.K. officially enacted legislation that increased its statutory rate from 17% to 19%. This resulted in a $6.7 million non-cash deferred tax expense from the re-measurement of our applicable U.K. net deferred tax liabilities.