Note 9—Income Taxes

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Tax Legislation”) was enacted on December 22, 2017, and significantly revised the U.S. corporate income tax code by, among other things, lowering federal corporate income tax rates, implementing a modified territorial tax system and imposing a repatriation tax, (“transition tax”), on deemed repatriated cumulative earnings of foreign subsidiaries which will be paid over eight years. In addition, new taxes were imposed related to foreign income, including a tax on global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) as well as a limitation on the deduction for business interest expense (“Section 163(j)”). GILTI is the excess of the shareholder’s net controlled foreign corporations (“CFC”) net tested income over the net deemed tangible income. The Section 163(j) limitation does not allow the amount of deductible interest to exceed the sum of the taxpayer’s business interest income or 30% of the taxpayer’s adjusted taxable income. We have included in our calculation of our effective tax rate the estimated impact of GILTI and Section 163(j) which were effective for us beginning fiscal year 2019. We have elected to account for the tax on GILTI as a period cost and, therefore, do not record deferred taxes related to GILTI on our foreign subsidiaries.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), which was enacted on March 27, 2020, provided temporary changes to income and non-income-based tax laws, including some provisions which were previously enacted under the 2017 Tax Legislation. The CARES Act revised the U.S. corporate income tax code on a temporary basis by, among other things, eliminating the 80% of taxable income limitation on net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards, allowing NOL carrybacks, and increasing the Section 163(j) interest limitation deduction from 30% to 50% of adjusted taxable income. We have included the estimated impact of these provisions in our effective tax rate calculation.

The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

For financial reporting purposes our (loss) income before (benefit from) provision for income taxes includes the following components (in thousands):

Our effective income tax rate on operations for 2023 was 23.8%compared to a rate of 17.9% in the prior year. We generally benefit from having income in foreign jurisdictions that are either exempt from income taxes or have tax rates that are lower than those in the United States. As such, changes in the mix of U.S. taxable income compared to profits in tax-free or lower-tax jurisdictions can have a significant impact on our overall effective tax rate. In addition, the future impact of the CARES Act and 2017 Tax Legislation may differ from historical amounts, possibly materially, due to, among other things, changes in interpretations and assumptions made regarding the CARES Act and 2017 Tax Legislation, guidance that may be issued, and actions we may take as a result of the CARES Act and 2017 Tax Legislation.

A reconciliation between the actual provision for income taxes and the provision for income taxes computed using the federal statutory income tax rate of 21.0% for fiscal years 2023 and 2022 is as follows (in thousands):

Significant components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows (in thousands):

As of September 2023, we had state net operating losses of approximately $79.3 million, with deferred tax assets of $4.1 million related to these state NOLs and related valuation allowances against them of approximately $1.1 million. These state net operating loss carryforwards expire at various intervals from 2027 through 2040. Our deferred tax asset related to state net operating loss carryforwards is reduced by a valuation allowance to result in net deferred tax assets we consider more-likely-than not to be realized.

For both federal and state purposes, the ultimate realization of deferred tax assets depends upon the generation of future taxable income or tax planning strategies during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible or when the carryforwards are available.

ASC 740, Income Taxes requires that a position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return be recognized in the financial statements when it is more-likely-than-not (i.e., a likelihood of more than 50%) that the position would be sustained upon examination by tax authorities. A recognized tax position is then measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits would also be recorded to income tax expense. We did not have any material unrecognized tax benefits as of September 2023 or September 2022.

As of September 2023, we are indefinitely reinvested in the cumulative undistributed earnings of and original investments in our foreign subsidiaries, with the exception of our equity method investment, which has been properly accounted for. Future remittances could be subject to additional foreign withholding taxes, U.S. state taxes, and certain tax impacts relating to foreign currency exchange effects. It is not practicable to estimate the amount of any unrecognized tax effects on these reinvested earnings and original investments in foreign subsidiaries.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state, local and foreign jurisdictions. Tax years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, according to statute and with few exceptions, remain open to examination by various federal, state, local, and foreign jurisdictions.