3 . discontinued operations during the second quarter of 2012 , the board of directors authorized the sale of our homecare business , which had previously been reported as part of the merchant gases operating segment . this business has been accounted for as a discontinued operation . in the third quarter of 2012 , we sold the majority of our homecare business to the linde group for sale proceeds of 20ac590 million ( $ 777 ) and recognized a gain of $ 207.4 ( $ 150.3 after-tax , or $ .70 per share ) . the sale proceeds included 20ac110 million ( $ 144 ) that was contingent on the outcome of certain retender arrangements . these proceeds were reflected in payables and accrued liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet as of 30 september 2013 . based on the outcome of the retenders , we were contractually required to return proceeds to the linde group . in the fourth quarter of 2014 , we made a payment to settle this liability and recognized a gain of $ 1.5 . during the third quarter of 2012 , an impairment charge of $ 33.5 ( $ 29.5 after-tax , or $ .14 per share ) was recorded to write down the remaining business , which was primarily in the united kingdom and ireland , to its estimated net realizable value . in the fourth quarter of 2013 , an additional charge of $ 18.7 ( $ 13.6 after-tax , or $ .06 per share ) was recorded to update our estimate of the net realizable value . in the first quarter of 2014 , we sold the remaining portion of the homecare business for a36.1 million ( $ 9.8 ) and recorded a gain on sale of $ 2.4 . we entered into an operations guarantee related to the obligations under certain homecare contracts assigned in connection with the transaction . refer to note 16 , commitments and contingencies , for additional information . the results of discontinued operations are summarized below: .
the assets and liabilities classified as discontinued operations for the homecare business at 30 september 2013 consisted of $ 2.5 in trade receivables , net , and $ 2.4 in payables and accrued liabilities . as of 30 september 2014 , no assets or liabilities were classified as discontinued operations. .
2014 2013 2012
Sales $8.5 $52.3 $258.0
Income before taxes $.7 $3.8 $68.1
Income tax provision — .2 20.8
Income from operations of discontinued operations .7 3.6 47.3
Gain (Loss) on sale of business and impairment/write-down, net of tax 3.9 (13.6) 120.8
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of tax $4.6 $(10.0) $168.1
2014 2013 2012
sales $ 8.5 $ 52.3 $ 258.0
income before taxes $ .7 $ 3.8 $ 68.1
income tax provision 2014 .2 20.8
income from operations of discontinued operations .7 3.6 47.3
gain ( loss ) on sale of business and impairment/write-down net of tax 3.9 -13.6 ( 13.6 ) 120.8
income ( loss ) from discontinued operations net of tax $ 4.6 $ -10.0 ( 10.0 ) $ 168.1
what was the decrease observed in the sales during 2013 and 2014?