6Income Taxes

For the three and six months ended March 28, 2014 and March 29, 2013, the Company’s earnings before tax, tax expense and effective income tax rate attributable to earnings before income taxes was as follows:



	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	March 28		March 29		March 28		March 29
(thousands, except tax rate data)	2014		2013		2014		2013
Income before income taxes	$	11,214	$	13,063	$	8,294	$	13,673
Income tax expense	$	3,810	$	4,126	$	3,083	$	4,489
Effective income tax rate		34.0%		31.6%		37.2%		32.8%

The change in the Company’s effective tax rate for the three and six months ended March 28, 2014 versus the prior year period was primarily due to variances in income or loss as of March 28, 2014 for entities that have a valuation allowance and the retroactive enactment of the research and development credit during the prior year period which expired in the current year period. The tax jurisdictions where such entities with a valuation allowance were located in were as follows for the periods ended March 28, 2014 and March 29, 2013, respectively:



March 28		March 29
2014		2013
	Japan		Japan
	France		France
	Indonesia		Indonesia
	Italy		Italy
	Netherlands		Netherlands
	New Zealand		New Zealand
	Spain		Spain
	United Kingdom		United Kingdom

The Company would ordinarily recognize a tax expense or benefit on operating income or loss in these jurisdictions; however, due to the recent cumulative losses for book purposes and the uncertainty of the realization of certain deferred tax assets in these jurisdictions, the Company continues to adjust its valuation allowances resulting in effectively no recorded tax expense or benefit in these jurisdictions.

The Company regularly assesses the adequacy of its provisions for income tax contingencies in accordance with the applicable authoritative guidance on accounting for income taxes. As of March 28, 2014, there was no material change in the amount of uncertain income tax positions and the Company’s 2014 fiscal year tax expense is anticipated to include approximately $350 related to uncertain income tax positions.

The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain income tax positions as a component of income tax expense and is projecting accrued interest of $100 related to uncertain income tax positions for the fiscal year ending October 3, 2014.

The Company files income tax returns, including returns for its subsidiaries, with federal, state, local and foreign taxing jurisdictions. The Company is currently undergoing an income tax examination in Italy. The following tax years remain subject to examination by the respective tax jurisdictions:


Jurisdiction	Fiscal Years
United States	2011-2013
Canada	2009-2013
France	2009-2013
Germany	2009-2013
Italy	2009-2013
Japan	2012-2013
Switzerland	2003-2013