Assurant 2015 Annual Report Download - page 120

ASSURANT, INC. – 2015 Form 10-KF-34
8 Income Taxes
The provision for foreign taxes includes amounts attributable to income from U�S� possessions that are considered foreign
under U�S� tax laws� International operations of the Company are subject to income taxes imposed by the jurisdiction in
which they operate�
A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate follows:
December 31,
2015
2014 2013
Federal income tax rate: 35�0% 35�0% 35�0%
Reconciling items:
Non-taxable investment income (6�8) (1�9) (1�7)
Foreign earnings(a) (5�2) (2�2) 1�1
Non deductible compensation 9�1 3�8 3�4
Non deductible health insurer fee 6�9 1�1 —
Sale of subsidiary (8�0) — —
Other (1�4) 0�9 0�3
EFFECTIVE INCOME TAX RATE: 29�6% 36�7% 38�1%
(a) Results for all years primarily include tax expense (benefit) associated with the earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries that are deemed
reinvested indefinitely and realization of foreign tax credits for certain other subsidiaries. In addition, 2015 reflects a 6.5% benefit related to a
Latin American reorganization and 2014 reflects a 2.6% benefit related to the conversion of Canadian branch operations of certain U.S. companies
to foreign corporate entities.
A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benets for the years ended December 31, 2015,
2014 and 2013 is as follows:
Years Ended December 31,
2015 2014 2013
Balance at beginning of year $ (6,262) $ (10,322) $ (11,515)
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year (30,712)(2,940) (309)
Reductions based on tax positions related to the current year 102 581 995
Additions for tax positions of prior years (2,128)(1,037)(1,090)
Reductions for tax positions of prior years 1,990 2,495 959
Settlements — 4,961 638
BALANCE AT END OF YEAR $ (37,010) $ (6,262) $ (10,322)
The total unrecognized tax benet of $35,618, $7,631, and
$12,510 for 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, which includes
interest, would impact the Company’s consolidated effective
tax rate if recognized� The liability for unrecognized tax
benets is included in tax receivable and accounts payable
and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets�
The Company’s continuing practice is to recognize interest
expense related to income tax matters in income tax expense�
During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013,
the Company recognized approximately $169, $246 and
$375, respectively, of interest expense related to income tax
matters. The Company had $1,733 and $1,730, and $4,500 of
interest accrued as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013,
respectively� No penalties have been accrued�
The Company does not anticipate any signicant increase
or decrease of unrecognized tax benet within the next
12 months�
The Company and its subsidiaries le income tax returns
in the U�S� and various state and foreign jurisdictions� The
Company has substantially concluded all U�S� federal income
tax matters for years through 2011� Substantially all non-
U�S� income tax matters have been concluded for the years
through 2009, and all state and local income tax matters
have been concluded for the years through 2009�