INCOME TAXES



	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
Dollars in Millions	2018			2017			2018			2017
Earnings Before Income Taxes	$	517		$	1,295		$	2,296		$	3,250
Provision for Income Taxes	135			373			419			802
Effective Tax Rate	26.1		%	28.8		%	18.2		%	24.7		%

New tax reform legislation in the U.S. was enacted on December 22, 2017 known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Act). The Act moves from a worldwide tax system to a quasi-territorial tax system and comprises broad and complex changes to the U.S. tax code including, but not limited to, (1) reducing the U.S. tax rate from 35% to 21%; (2) adding a deemed repatriation transition tax on certain foreign earnings and profits; (3) generally eliminating U.S. federal income taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries; (4) including certain income of controlled foreign companies in U.S. taxable income; (5) creating a new minimum tax referred to as a base erosion anti-abuse income tax; (6) limiting certain research-based credits; and (7) eliminating the domestic manufacturing deduction.

Although many aspects of the Act were not effective until 2018, additional tax expense of $2.9 billion was recognized in the fourth quarter of 2017 upon its enactment, including a $2.6 billion one-time deemed repatriation transition tax on previously untaxed post-1986 foreign earnings and profits (including related tax reserves). The accounting for the $2.6 billion was and continues to be incomplete as we do not have all of the necessary information available, prepared and analyzed to complete the accounting. However, a reasonable estimate of this tax was recorded as a provisional amount. The provisional amount was reduced by $29 million in 2018, and may continue to change until completed in 2018 upon finalizing the 2017 taxable income, untaxed post-1986 foreign earnings and profits and related cash and certain eligible assets of the specified foreign corporations or if additional interpretations of the relevant tax code are released.

The provisional adjustment discussed above, jurisdictional tax rates and other tax impacts attributed to non-deductible R&D charges, Nektar equity investment losses and other specified items increased the effective tax rate by 0.9% in the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 3.5% in the six months ended June 30, 2017. These items increased the effective tax rate by 8.6% in the second quarter of 2018 and by 6.4% in the second quarter of 2017. The tax impact of these discrete items are reflected immediately and are not considered in estimating the annual effective tax rate. Excluding the impact of these items, the reduction in the effective tax rate from the prior year was due primarily to the impact of U.S. tax reform discussed above partially offset by earnings mix. Additional changes to the effective tax rate may occur throughout the year due to various reasons including further changes to the provisional repatriation tax, pretax earnings mix, tax reserves and revised interpretations of the relevant tax code.

BMS is currently under examination by a number of tax authorities, which have proposed or are considering proposing material adjustments to tax positions for issues such as transfer pricing, certain tax credits and the deductibility of certain expenses. It is reasonably possible that new issues will be raised by tax authorities, which may require adjustments to the amount of unrecognized tax benefits; however, an estimate of such adjustments cannot reasonably be made at this time.

It is also reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits at June 30, 2018 could decrease in the range of approximately $350 million to $400 million in the next twelve months as a result of the settlement of certain tax audits and other events. The expected change in unrecognized tax benefits may result in the payment of additional taxes, adjustment of certain deferred taxes and/or recognition of tax benefits.