Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Factors Causing Variation in Effective Tax Rate From US Federal Statutory Rate

The differences that caused our effective income tax rates to differ from the U.S. federal statutory rates for the years ended March 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, were as follows:



	Year Ended March 31,
	2019			2018			2017
	(in millions)
Income tax benefit (expense) at the federal statutory rate	$	415		$	(95	)	$	270
Effect of:
State income taxes, net of federal income tax effect	(15		)	(43		)	24
State law changes, net of federal income tax effect	85			9			4
Increase liability for unrecognized tax benefits	(8		)	(29		)	(14		)
Increase deferred tax liability for business activity changes	—			(89		)	—
Credit for increasing research activities	17			15			15
Tax expense from organizational restructuring	(13		)	—			(118		)
Change in federal and state valuation allowance⁽¹⁾	(8		)	224			(615		)
Tax benefit from the Tax Act	—			7,088			—
Non-deductible penalties	(29		)	—			—
Goodwill impairment	(408		)	—			—
Other, net	(1		)	(6		)	(1		)
Income tax benefit (expense)	$	35		$	7,074		$	(435	)
Effective income tax rate	1.8		%	(2,334.7		)%	(56.4		)%

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(1)	Exclusive of $2.1 billion federal and state release included in Tax benefit from the Tax Act line for the year ended March 31, 2018.

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax benefit (expense) consists of the following:



	Year Ended March 31,
	2019			2018			2017
	(in millions)
Current income tax (expense) benefit
Federal	$	—		$	22		$	50
State	(45		)	(58		)	(50		)
Total current income tax expense	(45		)	(36		)	—
Deferred income tax (expense) benefit
Federal	(33		)	7,234			(284		)
State	118			(115		)	(149		)
Total deferred income tax benefit (expense)	85			7,119			(433		)
Foreign income tax expense	(5		)	(9		)	(2		)
Total income tax benefit (expense)	$	35		$	7,074		$	(435	)

Schedule of Income Tax Expense Benefit Allocated to Other Items

Income tax benefit (expense) allocated to other items was as follows:



	Year Ended March 31,
	2019		2018			2017
	(in millions)
Unrecognized net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit cost⁽¹⁾	$	12	$	9		$	(24	)
Unrealized holding gains (losses) on derivatives⁽¹⁾	$	6	$	(6	)	$	—
Unrealized holding gains on securities⁽¹⁾	$	7	$	—		$	—

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(1)	These amounts have been recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The sources of the differences that give rise to the deferred income tax assets and liabilities as of March 31, 2019 and 2018, along with the income tax effect of each, were as follows:



	March 31,
	2019			2018
	(in millions)
Deferred tax assets
Net operating loss carryforwards	$	5,478		$	4,116
Tax credit carryforwards	241			244
Property, plant and equipment	900			2,192
Debt obligations	—			64
Deferred rent	247			231
Pension and other postretirement benefits	209			219
Accruals and other liabilities	791			913
	7,866			7,979
Valuation allowance	(4,504		)	(4,745		)
	3,362			3,234
Deferred tax liabilities
FCC licenses	8,968			8,877
Trademarks	1,129			1,131
Intangibles	147			298
Deferred commissions	401			—
Debt obligations	15			—
Other	258			222
	10,918			10,528

Long-term deferred tax liability	$	7,556		$	7,294

Summary of Income Tax Contingencies

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits was as follows:



	Year Ended March 31,
	2019			2018
	(in millions)
Balance at beginning of period	$	239		$	190
Additions based on current year tax positions	17			21
Additions based on prior year tax positions	12			53
Reductions for prior year tax positions	(23		)	(24		)
Reductions for lapse of statute of limitations	(3		)	(1		)
Balance at end of period	$	242		$	239