MSCI Inc.

12. INCOME TAXES

The following table presents the components of income before provision for income taxes by domestic and foreign operations for the periods indicated:

(1)Foreign income before provision for income taxes is defined as income generated from operations located outside the U.S., which includes income from foreign branches of U.S. companies.

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

The following table reconciles the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to the effective income tax rate:

(1)State taxes in New York, New York City, California and Illinois make up the majority (greater than 50 percent) of the tax effect in this category. In 2025, the Company recognized the benefit of prior year refund claims.

(2)On October 2, 2023, the Company acquired the remaining 66.4% interest in Burgiss (the “step acquisition”).

The amount of income taxes paid by the Company consisted of:

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when such differences are expected to reverse. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, were as follows:

The Company believes the majority of the deferred tax assets at December 31, 2025 are more likely than not to be realized based on expectations as to future taxable income in the jurisdictions in which it operates. Valuation allowances have been provided where tax attributes do not meet recognition criteria.

The Company has tax credit carryforwards, primarily comprised of U.S. Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT) and foreign tax credits. Net operating loss carryforwards were $29.8 million with a tax value of $8.2 million and $28.4 million with a tax value of $7.1 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The majority of tax attributes may be utilized over an indefinite life.

As of December 31, 2025, the Company has provided for applicable state income and foreign withholding taxes on all undistributed earnings of its foreign subsidiaries.

The Company regularly assesses the likelihood of additional assessments in each of the taxing jurisdictions in which it files income tax returns. The Company has established unrecognized tax benefits that the Company believes are adequate in relation to the potential for additional assessments.

The following table presents a reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of the gross unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023:

The Company recognized $3.7 million, $0.0 million and $3.4 million of net interest and penalties in the Consolidated Statement of Income with respect to unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The amount of accrued interest and penalties, which includes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions and accrued income tax expense, recorded on the Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition was $7.3 million, $3.6 million and $3.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

The Company is under or open to examination by the IRS and other tax authorities in certain jurisdictions, including U.S. federal, states in which the Company has significant operations (such as New York and California), and foreign jurisdictions (such as Switzerland and India). The tax years currently under or open to examination vary by jurisdiction but include years ranging from 2008 onwards.