INCOME TAXES

The following table reflects the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for the three months ended December 29, 2018 and December 30, 2017:



	Three months ended
(dollar amounts in thousands)	December 29, 2018			December 30, 2017
Income tax expense	$	10,570		$	110,412
Effective tax rate	58.4		%	270.2		%

For the three months ended December 29, 2018, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory tax rate primarily due to tax expense related to an adjustment to the one-time transition tax on deemed repatriation of previously untaxed accumulated earnings and profits of certain foreign subsidiaries as a result of the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”), foreign withholding taxes, and tax liabilities from foreign operations, partially offset by tax benefits from profits generated in foreign operations subject to a lower statutory tax rate than the federal rate, tax benefits from domestic research expenditures, foreign tax credit, and the impact of tax holidays.

For the three months ended December 30, 2017, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory tax rate primarily due to tax expense related to the enactment of the Act, foreign withholding taxes, and tax liabilities from foreign operations, partially offset by tax benefits from profits generated in foreign operations subject to a lower statutory tax rate than the federal rate, tax benefits from domestic research expenditures, foreign tax credit, and the impact of tax holidays.

The decrease in tax expense for the three months ended December 29, 2018 of $10.6 million from the tax expense for the three months ended December 30, 2017 of $110.4 million was primarily related to the enactment of the Act and lower worldwide profits in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, net of $7.7 million tax expense primarily related to an adjustment to the one-time transition tax due to new guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury on November 28, 2018.

The Company's future effective tax rate would be affected by the decrease in earnings in countries where it has lower statutory rates or increase in earnings 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.

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 under income tax examination by tax authorities in certain foreign jurisdictions.

In accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 (“SAB 118"), the accounting for the tax effects for the Act has been completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2019. In addition, the Company has made an accounting policy election to record tax effects of its global intangible low-taxed income as a period cost in the period the tax is incurred.