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Income Taxes
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3 Months Ended |
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Mar. 31, 2012
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| Income Taxes [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes |
8) Income Taxes The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets are reduced, if deemed necessary, by a valuation allowance for the amount of tax benefits which are not expected to be realized. Investment tax credits are recognized on the flow through method. ASC Topic 740-10 “Overall—Uncertainty in Income Taxes” (“ASC Topic 740-10”) clarifies the accounting and disclosure for uncertainty in tax positions. ASC Topic 740-10 seeks to reduce the diversity in practice associated with certain aspects of the recognition and measurement related to accounting for income taxes. The Company is subject to the provisions of ASC Topic 740-10 and has analyzed filing positions in all of the federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns, as well as all open tax years in these jurisdictions. Should the Company need to accrue a liability for uncertain tax benefits, any interest associated with that liability will be recorded as interest expense. Penalties, if any, would be recognized as operating expenses. There are no penalties or interest liability accrued as of March 31, 2012 or December 31, 2011, nor are any penalties or interest costs included in expense for the periods ending March 31, 2012 and April 2, 2011. The years under which we conducted our evaluation coincided with the tax years currently still subject to examination by major federal and state tax jurisdictions, those being 2010 through 2011 for federal purposes and 2008 through 2011 for state purposes. The effective tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and April 2, 2011 was approximately 32.3% and 31.7%, respectively, are lower than would be expected by applying the U.S. federal statutory tax rate to earnings before income taxes. The first quarter of 2012 was impacted primarily by the domestic production activity deduction, as well as lower state and foreign taxes. The first quarter of 2011 was impacted by the domestic production activity deduction, lower state and foreign taxes as well as the impact of domestic R&D tax credits in the net amount of $0.1 million.
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