INCOME TAXES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

	Three Months Ended March 31,
Dollars in millions	2023			2022
Earnings before income taxes	$	2,770		$	1,687
Provision for income taxes	503			404
Effective tax rate	18.2		%	23.9		%

Income taxes in interim periods are determined based on the estimated annual effective tax rates and the tax impact of discrete items that are reflected immediately. The 5.7% decrease in our effective tax rate is primarily due to jurisdictional earnings mix resulting from amortization of acquired intangible assets, equity investment losses, litigation and other settlements, as well as releases of income tax reserves of $89 million related to the resolution of Celgene's 2009-2011 IRS audits, partially offset by the impact of changes in our Puerto Rico tax decree that eliminated a previously creditable excise tax. Additional changes to the effective tax rate may occur in future periods due to various reasons, including changes to the estimated pretax earnings mix and tax reserves and revised interpretations or changes to the relevant tax code. Income tax payments were $149 million and $255 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

BMS is currently under examination by a number of tax authorities that 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. As previously disclosed, BMS received several notices of proposed adjustments from the IRS related to transfer pricing and other tax issues for the 2008 to 2012 tax years. BMS disagrees with the IRS's positions and continues to work cooperatively with the IRS to resolve these issues. In the fourth quarter of 2022, BMS entered the IRS administrative appeals process to resolve these matters. Timing of the final resolution of these complex matters is uncertain and could have a material impact on BMS's consolidated financial statements.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of March 31, 2023 could decrease in the range of approximately $40 million to $60 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.

It is reasonably possible that new issues will be raised by tax authorities that may increase unrecognized tax benefits, however, an estimate of such increases cannot reasonably be made at this time. BMS believes that it has adequately provided for all open tax years by jurisdiction.