Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

INCOME TAXES

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INCOME TAXES
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES INCOME TAXES:
The income tax (benefit) provision consisted of the following:
  2020 2019 2018
Current:
Federal $ (12,354) $ 3,308  $ (2,577)
State (1,030) 2,232  1,051 
Foreign 11,306  2,049  15,533 
  (2,078) 7,589  14,007 
Deferred:
Federal 4,710  (5,472) (24,094)
State 2,880  (2,782) 1,315 
Foreign (24,197) 1,471  (346)
(16,607) (6,783) (23,125)
Total $ (18,685) $ 806  $ (9,118)

The U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was enacted on December 22, 2017. The Act reduced the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35.0% to 21.0% effective January 1, 2018, which resulted in a blended U.S. statutory tax rate of 24.5% for the Company in fiscal 2018, and a 21.0% rate for the Company in fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020. The Act also required a one-time transition tax on earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries that were previously deferred, and created new taxes on certain foreign-sourced earnings.

Global intangible low taxed income ("GILTI"): The Act also created a new requirement that certain income earned by foreign subsidiaries must be included currently in the gross income of the U.S. shareholder. Under U.S. GAAP, the Company is permitted to make an accounting policy election to either treat taxes due on future inclusions in U.S. taxable income related to GILTI as a current-period expense when incurred or to factor such amounts into the Company's measurement of its deferred taxes. The Company has made the election to treat taxes due on future inclusions related to GILTI as current period expense. The Company has calculated that no provision for GILTI tax expense was required in fiscal 2019 or fiscal 2020.
The reconciliation of the federal statutory tax rate to the consolidated effective tax rate was as follows:
  2020 2019 2018
Federal statutory tax rate 21.0  % 21.0  % 24.5  %
Effect of state income taxes, net of federal deduction (1.9) % 2.7  % 2.2  %
Foreign statutory taxes compared to federal statutory rate 3.4  % (0.8) % 1.4  %
Share-based compensation (1.4) % (3.1) % (0.6) %
U.S. manufacturing incentive —  % —  % (1.3) %
Tax credits 1.8  % 4.9  % (2.7) %
Tax basis difference —  % 9.8  % (1.5) %
Transition tax —  % —  % 9.0  %
U.S. statutory tax rate change on temporary differences —  % —  % (38.7) %
Goodwill write-down (9.4) % (40.2) % —  %
Tax rate differential on net operating loss carryback 4.2  % —  % —  %
Other (0.1) % 3.6  % (1.6) %
Effective tax rate 17.6  % (2.1) % (9.3) %

The Company's consolidated income taxes for the year ended September 30, 2020 were a benefit of $18,685, compared to an expense of $806 for fiscal 2019, and a benefit of $9,118 for fiscal 2018. The difference between the Company's consolidated income taxes for fiscal 2020 versus fiscal 2019 primarily resulted from the fiscal 2020 consolidated loss before income taxes, which reflected the goodwill write-down recorded in the second quarter of fiscal 2020, which was partially non-deductible, as well as a benefit for an expected net operating loss (“NOL”) carryback. The NOL will be carried back five years allowing it to offset income that was previously taxed at a federal statutory tax rate of 35%. The Company’s fiscal 2020 effective tax rate was negatively affected by the non-deductible portion of the goodwill write-down along with certain other non-deductible expenses. The fiscal 2020 effective tax rate benefited from research and development and foreign tax credits, the reduction of uncertain tax positions due to the completion of a foreign tax audit, and the tax benefit of the NOL carryback. The increase in the fiscal 2019 effective tax rate, compared to fiscal 2018, primarily reflected the fiscal 2018 U.S. deferred tax benefit from the Act enactment, as well as a goodwill impairment in fiscal 2019 that was not tax deductible. The fiscal 2019 effective tax rate benefited from research and development and foreign tax credits and the elimination, achieved through tax planning, of a taxable basis difference.

The Company's foreign subsidiaries had loss before income taxes for the year ended September 30, 2020 and income before income taxes for the years ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 of approximately $68,343, $11,042 and $56,424, respectively. Deferred income taxes have not been provided on undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries since they have either been previously taxed, or are now exempt from tax, under the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and such earnings are considered to be reinvested indefinitely in foreign operations. At September 30, 2020, undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries for which deferred income taxes have not been provided approximated $383,423. 
The components of deferred tax assets and liabilities at September 30, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:
  2020 2019
Deferred tax assets:
Pension and postretirement benefits $ 39,705  $ 37,587 
Accruals and reserves not currently deductible 12,258  10,400 
Income tax credit carryforward 5,308  3,204 
Operating and capital loss carryforwards 34,146  21,896 
Stock options 4,062  4,778 
Other 8,376  5,381 
Total deferred tax assets 103,855  83,246 
Valuation allowances (22,527) (15,352)
Net deferred tax assets 81,328  67,894 
Deferred tax liabilities:    
Depreciation (27,671) (24,792)
Unrealized gains and losses 389  (565)
Goodwill and intangible assets (123,259) (138,952)
Other (5,941) (1,035)
Total deferred tax liabilities (156,482) (165,344)
Net deferred tax liability $ (75,154) $ (97,450)

At September 30, 2020, the Company had foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $101,994 and foreign capital loss carryforwards of $20,119. The Company has recorded deferred tax assets of $2,189 for state net operating loss carryforwards, which will be available to offset future income tax liabilities. If not used, state net operating losses will begin to expire in 2021.  Certain of the foreign net operating losses begin to expire in 2021 while the majority of the Company's foreign net operating losses have no expiration period. Certain of these carryforwards are subject to limitations on use due to tax rules affecting acquired tax attributes, loss sharing between group members, and business continuation. Therefore, the Company has established tax-effected valuation allowances against these tax benefits in the amount of $22,527 at September 30, 2020. 

Changes in the total amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits (excluding penalties and interest) are as follows:

  2020 2019 2018
Balance, beginning of year $ 15,526  $ 14,827  $ 7,968 
Increases for tax positions of prior years 500  —  7,886 
Decreases for tax positions of prior years (2,727) —  — 
Increases based on tax positions related to the current year 939  1,420  882 
Decreases due to lapse of statute of limitation (3,755) (721) (1,909)
Balance, end of year $ 10,483  $ 15,526  $ 14,827 

The Company had unrecognized tax benefits of $7,066 at September 30, 2020, which would impact the annual effective tax rate.  It is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits could decrease by approximately $7,803 in the next 12 months primarily due to the completion of audits and the expiration of the statute of limitation related to specific tax positions.

The Company classifies interest and penalties on tax uncertainties as a component of the provision for income taxes.  Total penalties and interest accrued were $2,172 and $2,880 at September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  These accruals may potentially be applicable in the event of an unfavorable outcome of uncertain tax positions.
The Company is currently under examination in several tax jurisdictions and remains subject to examination until the statute of limitation expires for those tax jurisdictions. 

As of September 30, 2020, the tax years that remain subject to examination by major jurisdiction generally are:
United States - Federal 2017 and forward
United States - State 2016 and forward
Canada 2016 and forward
Germany 2019 and forward
United Kingdom 2019 and forward
Australia 2015 and forward
Singapore 2016 and forward