Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

May 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Components of Provision for Income Taxes

The components of the provision for income taxes for the years ended May 31 were as follows (in millions):

	2019			2018			2017
Current provision (benefit)
Domestic:
Federal	$	(107	)	$	(540	)	$	269
State and local		64			43			88
Foreign		243			461			285
		200			(36	)		642
Deferred provision (benefit)
Domestic:
Federal		(61	)		271			989
State and local		(7	)		125			59
Foreign		(17	)		(579	)		(108	)
		(85	)		(183	)		940
	$	115		$	(219	)	$	1,582

Schedule of Reconciliation of Total Income Tax Expense and Amount Computed by Statutory Federal Income Tax Rate to Income Before Taxes

A reconciliation of total income tax expense and the amount computed by applying the statutory federal income tax rate (21% in 2019, 29.2% in 2018 and 35% in 2017) to income before taxes for the years ended May 31 is as follows (in millions):

	2019			2018			2017
Taxes computed at federal statutory rate	$	138		$	1,271		$	1,603
Increases (decreases) in income tax from:
Non-deductible expenses		79			81			76
Valuation allowance		(79	)		31			44
TCJA(1)		(71	)		(1,354	)		—
Foreign tax rate enactments		50			6			—
State and local income taxes, net of federal benefit		44			119			99
Benefits from share-based payments		(18	)		(60	)		(55	)
Uncertain tax positions		8			86			—
Foreign tax credits from distributions		(8	)		(225	)		—
Foreign operations		(1	)		25			(5	)
Corporate structuring transactions(2)		—			(255	)		(68	)
Goodwill impairment charge		—			109			—
Other, net		(27	)		(53	)		(112	)
Provision for income taxes (benefit)	$	115		$	(219	)	$	1,582
Effective Tax Rate		17.6	%		(5.0	)%		34.6	%

⁽¹⁾ Primary components in 2018 were a $1.15 billion benefit from the remeasurement of our net U.S. deferred tax liability and a $204 million one-time benefit from a contribution to our tax-qualified U.S. domestic pension plans (“U.S. Pension Plans”) in 2018.

⁽²⁾ The 2018 and 2017 net benefits consist of foreign deferred tax benefits of $434 million and $94 million, respectively, which were partially offset by U.S. deferred tax expenses of $179 million and $26 million, respectively.  

Schedule of Significant Components of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities as of May 31 were as follows (in millions):

	2019					2018
	Deferred Tax Assets			Deferred Tax Liabilities		Deferred Tax Assets			Deferred Tax Liabilities
Property, equipment, leases and intangibles	$	592		$	4,633	$	752		$	3,663
Employee benefits		1,256			—		595			31
Self-insurance accruals		585			—		494			—
Other		510			340		416			602
Net operating loss/credit carryforwards		1,139			—		1,146			—
Valuation allowances		(590	)		—		(711	)		—
	$	3,492		$	4,973	$	2,692		$	4,296

Schedule of Net Deferred Tax Liabilities

The net deferred tax liabilities as of May 31 have been classified in the balance sheets as follows (in millions):

	2019			2018
Noncurrent deferred tax assets(1)	$	1,340		$	1,263
Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities		(2,821	)		(2,867	)
	$	(1,481	)	$	(1,604	)

⁽¹⁾ Noncurrent deferred tax assets are included in the line item “Other Assets” in our consolidated balance sheets.

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Amount of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in millions):

	2019			2018			2017
Balance at beginning of year	$	161		$	67		$	49
Increases for tax positions taken in the current year		—			3			—
Increases for tax positions taken in prior years		31			103			8
Increase for business acquisition		—			—			17
Decreases for tax positions taken in prior years		(4	)		(10	)		(1	)
Settlements		(21	)		(2	)		(4	)
Decreases from lapse of statute of limitations		—			—			(2	)
Changes due to currency translation		(3	)		—			—
Balance at end of year	$	164		$	161		$	67