Federal Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Federal Income Tax Expense

The federal income tax expense (benefit) on continuing operations (in millions) was as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
Current	$	(3)	$	3	$	12
Deferred	(393)		364		853
Federal income tax expense (benefit)	$	(396)	$	367	$	865

Reconciliation of effective tax rate differences

A reconciliation of the effective tax rate differences (in millions) was as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2023			2022			2021
Income (loss) before taxes	$	(1,148)		$	1,725		$	4,643
Federal statutory rate	21		%	21		%	21		%
Federal income tax expense (benefit) at federal statutory rate	(241)			362			975
Effect of:
Tax-preferred investment income (1)	(126)			(90)			(88)
Tax credits	(40)			(42)			(26)
Excess tax expense (benefit) from stock-based
compensation	4			(1)			–
Goodwill impairment	–			133			–
Other items	7			5			4
Federal income tax expense (benefit)	$	(396)		$	367		$	865
Effective tax rate	34		%	21		%	19		%

(1) Relates primarily to separate account dividends eligible for the dividends-received deduction.

Federal Income Tax Asset Liability

The federal income tax asset (liability) (in millions) was as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2023		2022
Current	$	112	$	83
Deferred	929		1,313
Total federal income tax asset (liability)	$	1,041	$	1,396

Significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities

Significant components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities (in millions) were as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2023		2022
Deferred Tax Assets
Insurance liabilities and reinsurance-related balances	$	1,900	$	410
Reinsurance-related embedded derivative liabilities	116		–
Compensation and benefit plans	184		172
Intangibles	18		21
Net unrealized loss on fixed maturity AFS securities	1,826		2,265
Net unrealized loss on trading securities	33		70
Investment activity	–		273
Tax credits	131		101
Net operating losses	87		278
Capital losses	93		–
Deferred gain on reinsurance	–		57
Total deferred tax assets	$	4,388	$	3,647
Deferred Tax Liabilities
DAC and VOBA	$	1,744	$	1,742
Investment activity	617		–
Deferred loss on reinsurance	465		–
Reinsurance-related embedded derivative assets	–		87
MRB-related activity	429		134
Other	204		371
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	3,459	$	2,334
Net deferred tax asset (liability)	$	929	$	1,313

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

A reconciliation of the gross unrecognized federal tax benefits (in millions) was as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2023		2022
Balance as of beginning-of-year	$	68	$	73
Decreases for prior year tax positions	(6)		(6)
Increases for prior year tax positions	25		1
Settlements for prior year tax positions	–		–
Balance as of end-of-year	$	87	$	68