8.     Income Tax

The Company’s quarterly income tax provision is calculated using an estimated annual effective income tax rate (“ETR”) based on actual historical information and forward-looking estimates. The Company’s estimated annual ETR may fluctuate due to changes in forecasted annual pre-tax income, changes in the jurisdictional mix of forecasted pre-tax income, and changes to actual or forecasted permanent book to tax differences (e.g., non-deductible expenses). In addition, the Company’s ETR for a particular reporting period may fluctuate as the result of changes to the valuation allowance for net deferred tax assets, the impact of anticipated tax settlements with federal, state, or foreign tax authorities, or the impact of tax law changes. The Company identifies items that are unusual and non-recurring in nature and treat these as discrete events. The tax effect of these discrete events is booked entirely in the quarter in which they occur.

During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $2.8 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 33.1%, which includes an annualized effective tax provision of $2.5 million (representing an effective tax rate of 29.7%) and a discrete item relating to state tax refunds of $0.3 million (representing an effective tax rate of 3.4%). During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recorded an income tax provision of $1.3 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 35.6%. These effective tax rates differ from the U.S. federal statutory rate primarily due to the effects of foreign tax rate differences, U.S. tax on foreign operations, and U.S. state/local taxes.

The COVID-19 (as defined herein) pandemic has a global reach, and many countries are introducing measures that provide relief to taxpayers in a variety of ways. In March 2020, the U.S. government enacted tax legislation containing provisions to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic (the “CARES Act”), including deferment of the employer portion of certain payroll taxes, refundable payroll tax credits, and technical amendments to tax depreciation methods for qualified improvement property. The CARES Act did not have a material impact on the Company’s income tax provision for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

A valuation allowance has been established against a small amount of certain net foreign deferred tax assets and US tax loss carryforward. All other net deferred tax assets have been determined to be more likely than not realizable.

The Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and various state and international jurisdictions. The Company’s Israeli subsidiary is under audit by the Israeli Tax Authority for the 2016-2018 tax years. This examination may lead to ordinary course adjustments or proposed adjustments to the Company’s taxes. Aside from this, the Company is not currently under audit in any other jurisdiction.