Income tax expense and the effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (dollar amounts in thousands):

The tax provisions for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 were computed using the estimated effective tax rates applicable to each of the domestic and international taxable jurisdictions for the full year. The Company estimates its effective tax rate to be between 17.0% to 19.0% for 2019. The Company’s tax rate is subject to management’s quarterly review and revision, as necessary.

The Company’s provision for income tax expense and effective income tax rate are significantly impacted by the mix of the Company’s domestic and foreign earnings (loss) before income taxes. In the foreign jurisdictions in which the Company has operations, the applicable statutory rates range from 0.0% to 34.6%, which is on average significantly lower than the U.S. federal and state combined statutory rate of approximately 24.7%.

Due to the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) in December 2017, the Company is subject to a tax on global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”).  GILTI is a tax on foreign income in excess of a deemed return on tangible assets of foreign corporations. Companies subject to GILTI have the option to account for the GILTI tax as a period cost if and when incurred, or to recognize deferred taxes for temporary differences including outside basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI. The Company has elected to account for GILTI as a period cost, and therefore has included GILTI expense in its effective tax rate calculation for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018.

For the three months ended September 30, 2019, the increase in the effective tax rate was primarily due to the negative impact of $0.9 million in discrete tax expense in the three months ended September 30, 2019 as compared to the positive impact of $3.9 million in discrete tax benefit in the three months ended September 30, 2018. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the increase in the effective tax rate was primarily due to the negative impact of $3.9 million in discrete tax expense in the nine months ended September 30, 2019 as compared to the positive impact of $13.1 million in discrete tax benefit in the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

As of September 30, 2019, the Company had approximately $824.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, of which $533.6 million, or 64.8%, was held outside the U.S. Of the $533.6 million held by the Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries, approximately $247.3 million is available for repatriation to the U.S. without incurring U.S. federal income taxes and applicable non-U.S. income and withholding taxes in excess of the amounts accrued in the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements as of September 30, 2019.

On July 27, 2015, the United States Tax Court issued a decision (the “Tax Court Decision”) in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner, which concluded that related parties in a cost sharing arrangement are not required to share expenses related to share-based compensation. The Tax Court Decision was appealed by the Commissioner to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Ninth Circuit”). On June 7, 2019, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion (the“Altera Ninth Circuit Panel Opinion”) that reversed the Tax Court Decision. Based on the Altera Ninth Circuit Panel Opinion, the Company recorded a cumulative income tax expense of $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2019. On July 22, 2019, Altera requested a rehearing before the full Ninth Circuit and may subsequently appeal from the Ninth Circuit to the Supreme Court. As a result, the final outcome of the case is uncertain. If the Altera Ninth Circuit Panel Opinion is reversed, we would anticipate recording an income tax benefit at that time.

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents held in the U.S. and cash provided from operations are sufficient to meet the Company’s liquidity needs in the U.S. for the next twelve months.  However, in anticipation of the needs of the Company’s share repurchase program and the need to provide payment of the Company’s Transition Tax liability, the Company may repatriate certain funds held outside the U.S. for which U.S. federal and non-U.S. tax has been fully provided as of September 30, 2019. The Company has provided for the tax impact of expected distributions from its joint venture in China as well as from its subsidiary in Chile to its intermediate parent company in Switzerland. Otherwise, because of the need for cash for operating capital and continued overseas expansion, the Company does not foresee the need for any of our other foreign subsidiaries to distribute funds up to an intermediate foreign parent company in any form of taxable dividend. Under current applicable tax laws, if the Company choses to repatriate some or all of the funds it has designated as indefinitely reinvested outside the U.S., the amount repatriated would not be subject to U.S. income taxes but may be subject to applicable non-U.S. income and withholding taxes, and to certain state income taxes.