Income Taxes

On December 22, 2017, new federal income tax legislation, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (Tax Act), was signed into law. The most significant impacts on the Company are as follows:


•	Effective January 1, 2018, the U.S. corporate federal statutory income tax rate was reduced from 35.0% to 21.0%. Because of our fiscal year end, the Company’s fiscal 2018 statutory federal tax rate is 24.5%, which is applicable to each quarter of the fiscal year, and will be 21.0% thereafter.


•	The Company remeasured its U.S. federal deferred tax assets and liabilities at the rate that the Company expects to be in effect when those deferred taxes will be realized (either 24.5% if in 2018 or 21.0% thereafter). The Company recognized a benefit from the deferred tax remeasurement of approximately $2.1 billion in the nine months ended June 30, 2018.

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A one-time tax is due on certain accumulated foreign earnings (Deemed Repatriation Tax), which is payable over eight years. The effective tax rate is generally 15.5% on the portion of the earnings held in cash and cash equivalents and 8% on the remainder. The Company recognized a charge for the Deemed Repatriation Tax of approximately $0.3 billion in the nine months ended June 30, 2018. Generally there will no longer be a U.S. federal income tax cost arising from the repatriation of foreign earnings.


•	The Company will be eligible to claim an immediate deduction for investments in qualified fixed assets and film and television productions placed in service in fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2022. This provision phases out through fiscal 2027.


•	The domestic production activity deduction was eliminated effective for the Company’s fiscal 2019.


•	Certain foreign derived income will be taxed in the U.S. at an effective rate of approximately 13% (which increases to approximately 16% in 2025) rather than the general statutory rate of 21%. This will be effective for the Company in fiscal 2019.


•	Certain foreign earnings will be taxed at a minimum effective rate of approximately 13%, which increases to approximately 16% in 2025. This will be effective for the Company in fiscal 2019.

The amounts that the Company has recorded are provisional estimates of the impact the Tax Act will have on the Company’s financial statements. Although the Company does not anticipate material adjustments to the provisional amounts, final amounts could vary. Additional information and analysis is required to finalize the impact including determining foreign cash and cash equivalents at the end of fiscal 2018 to calculate the Deemed Repatriation Tax.

Additionally, potential further guidance may be forthcoming from the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as regulations, interpretations and rulings from federal and state tax agencies, which could result in additional impacts.

During the nine months ended June 30, 2018, the Company decreased its gross unrecognized tax benefits by $0.1 billion from $0.9 billion to $0.8 billion. In the next twelve months, it is reasonably possible that our unrecognized tax benefits could change due to resolutions of open tax matters. These resolutions would reduce our unrecognized tax benefits by approximately $0.2 billion, of which $0.1 billion would reduce our income tax expense and effective tax rate if recognized.