Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 11 - Income Taxes

The Company computes its quarterly income tax expense/(benefit) by using a forecasted annual effective tax rate and adjusts for any discrete items arising during the quarter. The Company recorded an income tax expense of $28 million and $604 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively, and an income tax benefit of $2 million and an income expense of $17 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, respectively. During the three months ended June 30, 2018, income tax expense was primarily driven by current tax on foreign earnings partially offset by the benefit of U.S. losses. During the six months ended June 30, 2018, income tax expense was primarily driven by deferred U.S. tax expense related to the Company’s investment in Didi and Grab, deferred China tax related to the Company’s investment in Didi, and to a lesser extent, the benefit of U.S. losses and current tax on foreign earnings. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2019, income tax expense was primarily driven by current tax on foreign earnings offset by a partial benefit from U.S. losses. The primary differences between the effective tax rate and the federal statutory tax rate are due to the valuation allowance on the Company’s U.S. and Netherlands’ deferred tax assets and foreign tax rate differences.

In March 2019, the Company initiated a series of transactions resulting in changes to its international legal structure, including a redomiciliation of a subsidiary to the Netherlands and a transfer of certain intellectual property rights among wholly owned subsidiaries, primarily to align its structure to its evolving operations. The redomiciliation resulted in a step-up in the tax basis of intellectual property rights and a correlated increase in foreign deferred tax assets in an amount of $6.1 billion, net of a reserve for uncertain tax positions of$1.3 billion. Based on available objective evidence, management believes it is not more-likely-than-not that these additional foreign deferred tax assets will be realizable as of June 30, 2019 and, therefore, are offset by a full valuation allowance to the extent not offset by reserves from uncertain tax positions.

During the six months ended June 30, 2019, the amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits increased by $1.2 billion, of which substantially all, if recognized, would not affect the annual effective tax rate as these unrecognized tax benefits would increase deferred tax assets that would be subject to a full valuation allowance. In the second quarter of 2019, the Company settled the IRS audit for the tax years 2013 and 2014. The settlement resulted in a reduction of unrecognized tax benefits of $141 million, which did not affect the annual effective tax rate, as these unrecognized tax benefits decreased deferred tax assets that were subject to a full valuation allowance.

The Company is subject to taxation in the U.S. and various state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company is also under routine examination by various state and foreign tax authorities. The Company believes that adequate amounts have been reserved in these jurisdictions. To the extent the Company has tax attribute carryforwards, the tax years in which the attribute was generated may still be adjusted upon examination by federal, state or foreign tax authorities to the extent utilized in a future period. For the Company’s major tax jurisdictions, the tax years 2010 through 2019 remain open; the major tax jurisdictions are the U.S., Brazil, Netherlands, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and India.

Although the timing of the resolution and/or closure of audits is highly uncertain, it is reasonably possible that the balance of gross unrecognized tax benefits could significantly change in the next 12 months. Given the number of years remaining subject to examination and the number of matters being examined, the Company is unable to estimate the full range of possible adjustments to the balance of gross unrecognized tax benefits.

In the event the Company experiences an ownership change within the meaning of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), the Company’s ability to utilize net operating losses, tax credits and other tax attributes may be limited. The most recent analysis of the Company’s historical ownership changes was completed through June 30, 2019. Based on the analysis, the Company does not anticipate a current limitation on the tax attributes.