Income Taxes
 9 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes.

The Company applies guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board for uncertainty in income taxes. The Company records the liability for unrecognized tax positions as a long-term liability.
The Company conducts business globally and, as a result, certain of its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various state and foreign jurisdictions. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to examinations by taxing authorities throughout the world, including major jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, certain state and foreign tax returns are under examination by various regulatory authorities. The Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for the fiscal years prior to and including the year ended May 31, 2010.
The Company regularly reviews issues that are raised from ongoing examinations and open tax years to evaluate the adequacy of its liabilities. As the various taxing authorities continue with their audit/examination programs, the Company will adjust its reserves accordingly to reflect these settlements. As of February 28, 2014, the Company does not anticipate a significant change in its worldwide gross liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits within the succeeding twelve months.
The Company’s effective income tax rates were 17.9% and 56.9% for the three and nine months ended February 28, 2014, respectively, compared to 9.6% and 20.9% for the three and nine months ended February 28, 2013, respectively. Primary factors in determining the effective tax rates include the mix of various jurisdictions in which profits are projected to be earned and taxed, as well as assertions regarding the expected repatriation of earnings of the Company’s foreign operations. The effective tax rates for the three and nine months ended February 28, 2013 were also impacted by a non-deductible goodwill impairment charge of $233.0 million, which was treated as a non-deductible permanent difference and contributed significantly to the effective tax rate being lower than U.S. statutory tax rates. Fluctuations in effective tax rates between comparable periods also reflect the discrete tax benefit or expense of items in continuing operations that represent tax effects not attributable to current-year ordinary income. Discrete items, consisting primarily of changes in deferred taxes due to state and international reorganizations, finalization of the 2012 income tax returns, release of valuation allowance on state net operating loss carryforwards and the prospective reduction of the United Kingdom statutory corporate tax rate enacted in July 2013, impacted the income tax provision by $3.2 million and $(22.8) million, or (4.0)% and 32.8%, in the three and nine months ended February 28, 2014, respectively. Discrete items impacted the income tax provision by ($30.3) million and $(34.0) million, or 9.0% and 6.7%, in the three and nine months ended February 28, 2013, respectively, primarily as a result of the tax benefit associated with the reduction of net deferred tax liabilities due to the impairment of intangible assets, as well as the prospective reduction of the United Kingdom statutory corporate tax rate enacted in July 2012 and finalization of the 2011 income tax returns.