Columbia Sportswear Company Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

dated income from continuing operations before income taxes consisted of the following:



	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2018		2017		2016
U.S. operations	$	224,430	$	167,380	$	173,798
Foreign operations	136,287		99,354		83,100
Income before income tax	$	360,717	$	266,734	$	256,898

The components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes consisted of the following:



	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017			2016
Current:
Federal	$	59,213		$	87,386		$	53,840
State and local	9,959			443			6,370
Non-U.S.	28,700			28,708			18,708
	97,872			116,537			78,918
Deferred:
Federal	(10,961		)	47,087			(12,921		)
State and local	(1,910		)	4,990			(2,166		)
Non-U.S.	768			(14,195		)	(5,372		)
	(12,103		)	37,882			(20,459		)
Income tax expense	$	85,769		$	154,419		$	58,459

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Government enacted comprehensive tax legislation, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"). The TCJA made broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code, including, but not limited to:


•	reducing the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%;


•	requiring companies to pay a one-time transition tax on certain unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries;


•	generally eliminating U.S. federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries;


•	requiring a current inclusion in U.S. federal taxable income of certain earnings of controlled foreign corporations;


•	eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax ("AMT") and changing how existing AMT credits can be realized;


•	creating the base erosion anti-abuse tax;


•	a new provision designed to tax global intangible low-taxed income ("GILTI");


•	creating a new limitation on deductible interest expense; and


•	changing rules related to uses and limitations of net operating loss carryforwards created in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.

In conjunction with the enactment of the TCJA, the SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin 118 ("SAB 118"), which provides guidance on accounting for the tax effects of the TCJA. SAB 118 provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from the TCJA enactment date for companies to complete the accounting for the effects of the TCJA.

Any legislative changes, including the final Section 965 transition tax regulations issued on January 15, 2019, the impacts of which are currently being assessed due to the complexity and interdependency of the legislative provisions, as well as other new or proposed Treasury regulations, may result in additional income tax impacts which could be material in the period any such changes are enacted.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, in accordance with SAB 118, the Company reflected the income tax effects in the financial statements for those aspects of the TCJA for which the accounting was complete and recorded an incremental provisional net tax expense of approximately $95,610,000 for those aspects which the accounting was incomplete but able to determine a reasonable estimate.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded an incremental tax expense of approximately $5,064,000 as adjustments to the provisional tax expense. Details related to the incremental expenses in 2018 are outlined below.

Reduction of U.S. federal corporate tax rate

The TCJA reduces the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, effective January 1, 2018. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a provisional decrease to net deferred tax assets of approximately $15,017,000, for certain deferred tax assets and liabilities, with a corresponding charge to deferred income tax expense of approximately $15,017,000. In 2018, the Company determined the provisional amount was affected by other analyses related to the TCJA, including, but not limited to, the Company's calculation of deemed repatriation of foreign income and the state tax effect of adjustments made to federal temporary differences. As a result, in the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded an increase to net deferred tax assets of approximately $1,450,000 for certain deferred tax assets and liabilities, with a corresponding charge to deferred income tax expenses of approximately $1,450,000 to finalize the accounting for this element of the TCJA.

Transition tax on foreign earnings

The Deemed Repatriation Transition Tax ("Transition Tax") is a U.S. tax on the Company's previously untaxed accumulated and current earnings and profits ("E&P") of certain of the Company's foreign subsidiaries. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a provisional obligation of approximately $49,947,000. In 2018, the Company determined, in addition to other factors, the amount of post-1986 E&P of the relevant subsidiaries, as well as the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid on such earnings. As a result, in the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded approximately $5,424,000 to a liability account to finalize the accounting for this element of the TCJA. The Transition Tax will be paid over an eight year period beginning for the tax year ending December 31, 2017.

Deferred tax liability associated with future repatriations

For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a provisional estimate of approximately $23,690,000 related to the tax effects on future repatriations of foreign earnings. In 2018, the Company completed additional analysis of the effects of the TCJA and of its applicable foreign earnings. As a result, in the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded approximately $1,648,000 of income tax expense to finalize the accounting for this element of the TCJA.

Disallowance of foreign tax credits

The Company repatriated foreign earnings in 2017 for which certain foreign tax credits were no longer allowable under the TCJA. As a result, for the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company recorded a provisional estimate of approximately $6,956,000 of income tax expense. In 2018, the Company completed additional analysis of the effects of the TCJA and recorded a decrease of approximately $557,000 in the year ended December 31, 2018 to finalize the accounting for this element of the TCJA.

Global intangible low-taxed Income ("GILTI") tax

For the year ended December 2017, the Company did not record a provision related to the new GILTI tax under the TCJA because of the complexity of the new tax rules and the lack of clarity surrounding the application of the relevant accounting guidance. In 2018, the Company elected an accounting policy with respect to the GILTI tax rules, which is to treat GILTI as a period cost.

The following is a reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the effective rate reported in the financial statements:



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
	(percent of income)
Provision for federal income taxes at the statutory rate	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State and local income taxes, net of federal benefit	2.0		0.4		1.5
Non-U.S. income taxed at different rates	(0.1	)	(7.8	)	(5.8	)
Foreign tax credits	—		(0.1	)	(3.0	)
Foreign deferred tax asset	—		(3.0	)	(2.5	)
Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income	0.4		—		—
Research credits	(0.6	)	(0.7	)	(0.8	)
Withholding taxes	0.4		—		—
Excess tax benefits from stock plans	(1.4	)	(2.3	)	(2.1	)
Other	0.7		0.5		0.5
Actual provision for income taxes, pre-provisional TCJA expense	22.4	%	22.0	%	22.8	%
Effects of the TCJA:
Reduction of U.S. federal corporate tax rate	(0.4	)%	5.6	%	—	%
Transition tax on foreign earnings	1.5		18.7		—
Deferred tax liability associated with future repatriations	0.5		8.9		—
Foreign tax credits	(0.2	)	2.7		—
Provision for income taxes related to the TCJA	1.4	%	35.9	%	—	%
Actual provision for income taxes	23.8	%	57.9	%	22.8	%

Significant components of the Company's deferred taxes consisted of the following (in thousands):



	December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017
Deferred tax assets:
Accruals and allowances	$	39,276		$	37,971
Capitalized inventory costs	34,548			21,625
Stock compensation	4,318			3,867
Net operating loss carryforwards	18,800			20,085
Depreciation and amortization	39,511			25,020
Tax credits	1,353			31
Foreign currency gain	—			5,657
Other	1,570			276
Gross deferred tax assets	139,376			114,532
Valuation allowance	(18,550		)	(16,428		)
Net deferred tax assets	120,826			98,104
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation and amortization	(22,048		)	(15,395		)
Prepaid expenses	(2,301		)	(2,383		)
Deferred tax liability associated with future repatriations	(21,323		)	(23,690		)
Foreign currency loss	(6,520		)	0
Gross deferred tax liabilities	(52,192		)	(41,468		)
Total net deferred taxes	$	68,634		$	56,636

The Company records net deferred tax assets to the extent it believes these assets will more likely than not be realized. In making such a determination, the Company considers all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax-planning strategies, and results of recent operations. The Company has foreign net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $66,822,000 as of December 31, 2018, of which approximately $56,576,000 have an unlimited carryforward period and approximately $10,246,000 expire between 2025 and 2027. The net operating losses result in deferred tax assets of approximately $18,800,000 and $20,085,000 at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These deferred tax assets were subject to a valuation allowance of approximately $16,532,000 and $16,152,000 at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

At December 31, 2018, the Company has accumulated undistributed earnings generated by the Company's foreign subsidiaries of approximately $333,400,000. As approximately $239,700,000 of such earnings have previously been subject to the one-time transition tax on foreign earnings by the TCJA, any additional taxes due with respect to such earnings would generally be limited to foreign and state taxes and have been recorded as a deferred tax liability. However, the Company intends to indefinitely reinvest the earnings generated after January 1, 2018 and expect future domestic cash generation to be sufficient to meet future domestic cash needs.

The Company conducts business globally, and, as a result, the Company or one or more of its subsidiaries files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company is subject to examination by taxing authorities throughout the world, including such major jurisdictions as Canada, China, France, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States. The Company has effectively settled Canadian tax examinations of all years through 2012, U.S. tax examinations of all years through 2013, Japanese tax examinations of all years through 2012, France tax examinations of all years through 2014, and Swiss tax examinations of all years through 2014. The Company's transfer pricing policies are currently under review by the Chinese tax authorities for all tax years after 2013. The Korean National Tax Service concluded an audit of the Company's 2009 through 2013 corporate income tax returns in 2014, and an audit of the Company's 2014 corporate income tax return in 2016. Due to the nature of the findings in both of these audits, the Company has invoked the Mutual Agreement Procedures outlined in the U.S.-Korean income tax treaty. The Company does not anticipate that adjustments relative to this dispute, or any other ongoing tax audits, will result in material changes to its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Other than the dispute previously noted, the Company is not currently under examination in any major jurisdiction.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:



	December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017			2016
Balance at beginning of year	$	10,512		$	9,998		$	11,187
Increases related to prior year tax positions	490			858			2,514
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	(1,093		)	(2,895		)	(5,119		)
Increases related to current year tax positions	1,818			2,714			1,599
Settlements	319			—			—
Expiration of statute of limitations	(982		)	(163		)	(183		)
Balance at end of year	$	11,064		$	10,512		$	9,998

Due to the potential for resolution of income tax audits currently in progress, and the expiration of various statutes of limitation, it is reasonably possible that the unrecognized tax benefits balance may change within the twelve months following December 31, 2018 by a range of zero to approximately $2,885,000. Open tax years, including those previously mentioned, contain matters that could be subject to differing interpretations of applicable tax laws and regulations as they relate to the amount, timing, or inclusion of revenue and expenses or the sustainability of income tax credits for a given examination cycle.

Unrecognized tax benefits of approximately $9,147,000, $6,892,000 and $7,723,000 would affect the effective tax rate if recognized at December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The Company recognizes interest expense and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. The Company recognized a net increase of accrued interest and penalties of approximately $429,000 in 2018, and a net reversal of accrued interest and penalties of approximately $1,402,000 in 2017 and a net increase of accrued interest and penalties of approximately $637,000 in 2016, all of which related to uncertain tax positions. The Company had approximately $2,069,000 and $1,640,000 of accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.