INCOME TAXES

For the three and nine months ended June 30, 2017 and July 1, 2016, the Company’s earnings before income taxes, income tax expense and effective income tax rate were as follows:



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
(thousands, except tax rate data)	June 30, 2017			July 1, 2016			June 30, 2017			July 1, 2016
Profit before income taxes	$	25,560		$	13,865		$	47,352		$	28,015
Income tax expense	9,007			7,024			12,784			12,387
Effective income tax rate	35.2		%	50.7		%	27.0		%	44.2		%

The change in the Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2017 versus the prior year period was primarily due to no tax benefit recorded for the non-deductible portion of the goodwill impairment charge recognized in the prior year period.

The change in the Company's effective tax rate for the nine month period ended June 30, 2017 versus the prior year period continues to be primarily due to the impact of current year first quarter foreign tax credit net tax benefit of about $4,200 generated by the repatriation of approximately $22,000 in the 2017 year to date period from foreign jurisdictions into the U.S. Additionally, the change in the comparative effective tax rate was also impacted as a result of no tax benefit being recorded on the non-deductible portion of the goodwill impairment charge reported in the prior year period.

Changes in profitability and financial outlook in both the U.S. and/or foreign jurisdictions may require changes in valuation allowances in order to reduce the Company’s deferred tax assets and may drive fluctuations in the effective tax rate. The impact of the Company’s operations in jurisdictions with a valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets for which no tax expense or benefit can be recognized is removed from the overall effective tax rate methodology and recorded directly based on year to date results for the year. The tax jurisdictions that have a valuation allowance for the periods ended June 30, 2017 and July 1, 2016 were:



June 30, 2017	July 1, 2016
Australia	Australia
Austria
France	France
Indonesia
Japan	Japan
Netherlands	Netherlands
New Zealand	New Zealand
Spain	Spain
Switzerland	Switzerland

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 a result, the Company may adjust the reserves for unrecognized tax benefits due to the impact of changes in its assumptions or as a result of new facts and developments, such as changes to interpretations of relevant tax law, assessments from taxing authorities, settlements with taxing authorities and lapses of statutes of limitation. The Company’s 2017 fiscal year tax expense is anticipated to include approximately $500 related to uncertain income tax positions.

In accordance with its accounting policy, the Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized benefits as a component of income tax expense. The Company is projecting accrued interest of $250 related to uncertain income tax positions for the fiscal year ending September 29, 2017.

The Company files income tax returns, including returns for its subsidiaries, with federal, state, local and foreign taxing jurisdictions. The Company is currently undergoing income tax examinations in Italy. As of the date of this report, the following tax years remain open to examination by the respective tax jurisdictions:



Jurisdiction	Fiscal Years
United States	2014-2016
Canada	2013-2016
France	2012-2016
Germany	2013-2016
Italy	2011-2016
Japan	2016
Switzerland	2006-2016