INCOME TAXES INCOME TAXES |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Mar. 31, 2018 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| INCOME TAXES |
INCOME TAXES
In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) was enacted, which amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce tax rates and modify policies, credits, and deductions for individuals and businesses. For businesses, the TCJA reduces the corporate federal tax rate from a maximum of 35% to a flat 21% rate. The rate reduction took effect on January 1, 2018. The TCJA enactment caused the Company’s United States deferred tax assets and liabilities to be revalued at December 31, 2017. The international provisions of the TCJA generally establish a territorial-style system for taxing foreign-sourced income of domestic multinational corporations, require companies to pay a one-time transition tax on earnings of certain foreign-sourced subsidiaries that were previously tax-deferred, and create new taxes on certain foreign-sourced earnings. At December 31, 2017, the Company made a reasonable estimate of the effects of the TCJA on existing deferred tax balances and the one-time transition tax. The Company has not completed the calculation of the total post-1986 earnings and profits for these foreign subsidiaries. Further, the transition tax is based in part on the amount of those earnings held in cash and other specified assets. This amount may change when the Company finalizes the calculation of post-1986 foreign earnings and profits previously deferred from United States federal taxation and finalizes the amounts held in cash or other specified assets. No additional income taxes have been provided for any remaining undistributed foreign earnings that are considered to be permanently reinvested.
In December 2017, the SEC issued guidance for companies that have not completed the accounting for the income tax effects of the TCJA. Under this guidance, a company may report provisional amounts based on reasonable estimates where the accounting is incomplete. These amounts are subject to adjustments during a measurement period of up to one year beginning in the reporting period of the enactment date. In accordance with this guidance, the Company has determined that the impact of the TCJA on deferred taxes and the transition tax inclusion recorded on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings were provisional amounts and reasonable estimates at December 31, 2017. The amounts recorded remain reasonable estimates as of March 31, 2018 based on information available to date. Additional work is necessary for a more detailed analysis of our deferred tax assets and liabilities and our historical foreign earnings as well as potential correlative adjustments. Any subsequent adjustment to the amount will be recorded in the quarter of 2018 when the analysis is complete, but is not anticipated to impact tax expense due to the existence of fully-valued tax attribute carryforwards.
Although the TCJA generally eliminates United States federal income tax on dividends from foreign subsidiaries, it creates a new requirement that certain income referred to as Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) earned by controlled foreign corporations must be included currently in the gross income of the entity's United States taxpayer. In accordance with this guidance, the Company is allowed to make an accounting policy choice of either (1) treating taxes due on future United States inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI as a current-period expense when incurred or (2) factoring such amounts into the Company’s measurement of its deferred taxes. Because of the complexity of the new GILTI tax rules, the Company continues to evaluate this provision of the TCJA and has not yet determined its accounting policy. At March 31, 2018, because the Company is still evaluating the GILTI provisions and its analysis of future taxable income that is subject to GILTI, it has included GILTI related to current-year operations only in its estimated annual effective tax rate computations and has not provided additional GILTI on deferred items. The GILTI taxable income inclusion does not impact the first quarter 2018 tax expense due to the existence of fully-valued tax attribute carryforwards.
|