INCOME TAXES

The following table reflects the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for the nine months ended July 2, 2016 and June 27, 2015:



	Nine months ended
(dollar amounts in thousands)	July 2, 2016			June 27, 2015
Income from operations before income taxes	$	50,082		$	35,877
Income tax expense / (benefit)	13,299			(4,935		)
Net income	$	36,783		$	40,812

Effective tax rate	26.6		%	(13.8		)%

For the nine months ended July 2, 2016, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory tax rate primarily due to tax benefits from profits in foreign operations subject to a lower statutory tax rate than the federal rate, tax benefits from domestic research expenditures, and the impact of tax holidays, partially offset by a tax liability arising from a settlement with a foreign tax authority, an increase for deferred taxes on unremitted earnings, foreign withholding taxes, and an increase in valuation allowance against certain foreign deferred tax assets.

For the nine months ended June 27, 2015, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory tax rate primarily due to tax benefits from research and development expenditures, profits from foreign operations subject to a lower statutory tax rate than the federal rate, and the impact of tax holidays, offset by an increase in valuation allowance against certain foreign deferred tax assets, foreign earnings not permanently reinvested, and foreign withholding taxes. In addition, a tax benefit of $13.7 million was recorded primarily related to the reduction in the deferred tax liabilities as a result of the change in permanent reinvestment assertion for the nine months ended June 27, 2015 due to a business structure reorganization.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended July 2, 2016 of 19.1% increased from the effective tax rate for the three months ended June 27, 2015 of (54.0)% primarily due to a tax benefit of $13.7 million recorded in 2015 that mainly relates to the reduction in deferred tax liabilities as a result of the change in permanent reinvestment assertion due to a business structure reorganization.

The effective tax rate for the nine months ended July 2, 2016 of 26.6% increased from the effective tax rate for the nine months ended June 27, 2015 of (13.8)% and the year ended October 3, 2015 of (34.3)% primarily due to a tax benefit of $13.7 million recorded in 2015 that mainly relates to the reduction in deferred tax liabilities as a result of the change in permanent reinvestment assertion and a one-time tax liability of $4.4 million recorded in 2016 arising from a settlement reached with a foreign tax authority.

The Company's future effective tax rate would be affected if earnings were lower than anticipated in countries where it has lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in countries where it has higher statutory rates, by changes in the valuation of its deferred tax assets and liabilities, or by changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles, or interpretations thereof. In addition, changes in assertion for foreign earnings permanently or non-permanently reinvested as a result of changes in facts and circumstances could significantly impact the effective tax rate. The Company regularly assesses the effects resulting from these factors to determine the adequacy of its provision for income taxes.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of the unrecognized tax benefit with respect to certain unrecognized tax positions will increase or decrease during the next 12 months due to the expected lapse of statutes of limitation and / or settlements of tax examinations. The Company is currently under income tax examination by tax authorities in certain foreign jurisdictions.