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Income Taxes
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Income Taxes

5. Income Taxes

Income tax provisions for interim periods are based on estimated annual income tax rates, adjusted to reflect the effects of any significant infrequent or unusual items which are required to be discretely recognized within the current interim period. The Company’s intention is to permanently reinvest its foreign earnings outside of the United States. As a result, the effective tax rates in the periods presented are largely based upon the forecasted pre-tax earnings mix and allocation of certain expenses in various taxing jurisdictions where the Company conducts its business that apply a broad range of statutory income tax rates, a large majority of which are less than the U.S. statutory rate.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2014 and June 30, 2013 was 27.3% and 26.5%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and June 30, 2013 was 27.6% and 24.8%, respectively. The increase is primarily driven by the expiration of the U.S. Federal Research and Development Tax Credit (“US R&D Tax Credit”) on December 31, 2013. As a result, there is no tax benefit associated with the US R&D Tax Credit reflected in the effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014. The effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 included the marginal rate benefit of the US R&D Tax Credit for 2013, as well as a one-time discrete $4 million tax benefit associated with the US R&D Tax Credit for 2012, which was retroactively reinstated with the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 in January of 2013.