Answer: 57%.

**Explanation:** Using DuPont analysis, ROE can be decomposed into the following components: \[ \text{ROE} = \text{Tax Burden} \times \text{Interest Burden} \times \text{EBIT Margin} \times \text{Total Asset Turnover} \times \text{Leverage} \] Given the data: \[ \text{Tax Burden} = \frac{\text{ROE}}{\text{Interest Burden} \times \text{EBIT Margin} \times \text{Total Asset Turnover} \times \text{Leverage}} \] \[ \text{Tax Burden} = \frac{15\%}{0.85 \times 30\% \times 1.1 \times 1.25} = 42.78\% \] The tax burden reflects the portion of pretax profits retained by the company, which is \[ 1 - \text{Average Tax Rate} \]. Therefore: \[ \text{Average Tax Rate} = 1 - \text{Tax Burden} = 1 - 42.78\% = 57.22\% \] Rounding to the nearest whole number, the average tax rate is approximately **57%**, making option **C** the correct answer.

Author: LeetQuiz Editorial Team