Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
15. Income Taxes:
The effective income tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2019 was 38.4% compared to 37.0% for the three months ended September 30, 2018. The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was 39.3% compared to 40.9% for the nine months ended September 30, 2018. The Company’s effective income tax rate has fluctuated primarily because of changes in income mix (including the effect of loss companies), the impact of including foreign earnings in U.S. taxable income and changes in foreign exchange gains and losses, which create permanent differences in certain jurisdictions.
The difference between the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate and the Company’s effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 was mainly due to the tax effect of permanent differences related to foreign currency exchange gain or loss, inclusion of foreign earnings in U.S. taxable income, pre-tax losses with no associated tax benefit, the discrete tax effects of the Company’s sale of a non-core product line and state taxes.
The difference between the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate and the Company’s effective income tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was mainly due to the tax effect of permanent differences related to foreign currency exchange gain or loss, inclusion of foreign earnings in the U.S. as a result of recently enacted tax law, pre-tax losses with no associated tax benefit, discrete impacts of opening balance sheet adjustments related to the Sovitec acquisition and state taxes.
The TCJA enacted certain provisions that became effective on January 1, 2018. These provisions include, but are not limited to, the new Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) tax rules. Due to the complexity of the new GILTI tax, the Company is continuing to evaluate the GILTI provision of the TCJA and its impact on the financial statements, which remains uncertain. Per guidance issued by the FASB, the Company is permitted to make an accounting policy election to either (1) treat the taxes incurred as a result of the GILTI provision as a current-period expense when incurred or (2) factor such amounts into its measurement of deferred taxes. The Company has elected to treat any tax expense incurred as a result of GILTI as a current-period expense. Additionally, in regards to GILTI’s impact in assessing the ability to realize deferred tax assets, the Company has made a policy election to use the tax law ordering approach.
With respect to operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company has continued to incorporate an estimate of the GILTI income inclusion when estimating annual effective tax rate used for GAAP purposes. The Company expects this amount to be included in its 2019 U.S. taxable income. However, the estimated 2019 GILTI income inclusion may change materially as the Company continues to evaluate future legislative or administrative guidance that is put forth, any updates to assumptions and figures used for the current estimate, or as a result of future changes to the Company’s current structure and business.