XML 38 R24.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1
Income Taxes (Notes)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Note 15 - Income Taxes
Our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 was 47.3% and (7.0)%, respectively, on income (loss) before income taxes of $5.0 million and $(30.5) million, respectively. The increase in the effective tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2018, compared with the same period in 2017, was primarily due to the effects of the Tax Act, which reduced the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. We recognized incremental income tax expense of $1.4 million for the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provision of the Tax Act in the three months ended March 31, 2018. This increase in income tax expense related to implementing provisions of the Tax Act that were effective January 1, 2018 was offset by a reduction in income tax expense as a result of our adoption of ASU 2016-16 on January 1, 2018, as the deferred tax effects of intra-entity transfers of assets recognized as prepaid income taxes are no longer amortized to income tax expense over the life of the asset.
The reduction in the statutory U.S. federal rate is expected to positively impact our future U.S. after-tax earnings. However, the ultimate impact is subject to the effect of other complex provisions in the Tax Act (including BEAT, Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) and revised interest deductibility limitations) which we are currently reviewing. It is possible that any impact of these provisions could significantly reduce the benefit of the reduction in the statutory U.S. federal rate. Due to the uncertain practical and technical application of many of these provisions in the Tax Act, at this time, we are unable to make a final determination of the precise impact on our future earnings, and our accounting for the Tax Act remains incomplete.
However, as previously disclosed, at December 31, 2017 we were able to reasonably estimate certain effects and, therefore, recorded provisional adjustments associated with the deemed repatriation transition tax and the reduction in the statutory U.S. federal tax rate. We have not recorded any additional measurement-period adjustments related to the transition tax or the reduction in the U.S. federal tax rate during the three months ended March 31, 2018. We are continuing to gather additional information and expect to complete our accounting for the transition tax within the prescribed measurement period.
Also, as previously disclosed, at December 31, 2017 we were not yet able to reasonably estimate the effects of certain elements of the Tax Act, such as BEAT, GILTI and revised interest deductibility limitations. Therefore, no provisional adjustments were recorded.
Because of the complexity of the new GILTI tax rules, we are continuing to evaluate this provision of the Tax Act and the application of ASC 740. Under U.S. GAAP, we are permitted to make an accounting policy election of either (1) treating taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI as a current-period expense when incurred (the “period cost method”) or (2) factoring such amounts into a company’s measurement of its deferred taxes (the “deferred method”). Our selection of an accounting policy related to the new GILTI tax rules will depend, in part, on analyzing our global income to determine whether we expect to have future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI and, if so, what the impact is expected to be. Whether we expect to have future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI depends on a number of different aspects of our estimated future results of global operations, and as a result, we are not yet able to reasonably estimate the long-term effects of this provision of the Tax Act. Therefore, we have not recorded any deferred tax effects related to GILTI in our financial statements and have not made a policy election regarding whether to record deferred taxes on GILTI or to apply the period cost method as of March 31, 2018. We have, however, included an estimate of the 2018 current GILTI impact in the calculation of our annualized effective tax rate for 2018. In addition, we have included an estimate of the 2018 current BEAT impact in our income tax expense for 2018. We expect to complete our accounting within the prescribed measurement period.