as of december 312008 what was the percent of the unrecognized tax benefits related to tax positions allied had taken prior to the merger .
in july 2006 , the fasb issued fin 48 which clarifies the accounting for income taxes by prescribing the minimum recognition threshold a tax position is required to meet before being recognized in the financial statements . fin 48 also provides guidance on derecognition , measurement , classification , interest and penalties , accounting in interim periods and transition , and required expanded disclosure with respect to the uncertainty in income taxes . we adopted the provisions of fin 48 effective january 1 , 2007 . a reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended december 31 is as follows ( in millions ) : .

|  | 2008 | 2007 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Balance at beginning of year | $23.2 | $56.4 |
| Additions due to acquisition of Allied | 582.9 | — |
| Additions based on tax positions related to current year | 10.6 | 16.3 |
| Reductions for tax positions related to the current year | (5.1) | (17.2) |
| Additions for tax positions of prior years | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Reductions for tax positions of prior years | (1.3) | (12.3) |
| Reductions for tax positions resulting from lapse of statute of limitations | (.4) | (.4) |
| Settlements | — | (21.6) |
| Balance at end of year | $611.9 | $23.2 |

included in the balance at december 31 , 2008 and 2007 are approximately $ 461.0 million and $ 7.7 million , respectively , of unrecognized tax benefits ( net of the federal benefit on state issues ) that , if recognized , would affect the effective income tax rate in future periods . sfas 141 ( r ) is effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after december 15 , 2008 . sfas 141 ( r ) significantly changes the treatment of acquired uncertain tax liabilities . under sfas 141 , changes in acquired uncertain tax liabilities were recognized through goodwill . under sfas 141 ( r ) , changes in acquired unrecognized tax liabilities are recognized through the income tax provision . as of december 31 , 2008 , $ 582.9 million of the $ 611.9 million of unrecognized tax benefits related to tax positions allied had taken prior to the merger . of the $ 582.9 million of acquired unrecognized benefits , $ 449.6 million , if recognized in the income tax provision , would affect our effective tax rate . we recognize interest and penalties as incurred within the provision for income taxes in the consolidated statements of income . related to the unrecognized tax benefits noted above , we accrued penalties of $ .2 million and interest of $ 5.2 million during 2008 , and , in total as of december 31 , 2008 , have recognized a liability for penalties of $ 88.1 million and interest of $ 180.0 million . during 2007 , we accrued interest of $ .9 million and , in total as of december 31 , 2007 , had recognized a liability for penalties and interest of $ 5.5 million . gross unrecognized tax benefits that we expect to settle in the following twelve months are in the range of $ 10.0 million to $ 20.0 million . it is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will increase or decrease in the next twelve months . we and our subsidiaries are subject to income tax in the u.s . and puerto rico , as well as income tax in multiple state jurisdictions . we have acquired allied 2019s open tax periods as part of the acquisition . allied is currently under examination or administrative review by various state and federal taxing authorities for certain tax years , including federal income tax audits for calendar years 2000 through 2006 . we are also engaged in tax litigation related to our risk management companies which are subsidiaries of allied . these matters are further discussed below . we are subject to various federal , foreign , state and local tax rules and regulations . our compliance with such rules and regulations is periodically audited by tax authorities . these authorities may challenge the republic services , inc . and subsidiaries notes to consolidated financial statements %%transmsg*** transmitting job : p14076 pcn : 123000000 ***%%pcmsg|121 |00050|yes|no|03/01/2009 18:23|0|0|page is valid , no graphics -- color : d| .

unrecognized_tax_benefits = 582.9
total_tax_benefits = 611.9
percent_unrecognized = unrecognized_tax_benefits / total_tax_benefits
answer = percent_unrecognized * 100