Income Taxes	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Income Taxes.
Income Taxes	NOTE 8. Income Taxes The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various states and foreign jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2005. The IRS has completed its field examination of the Company’s U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 2005 through 2014, and 2016. The Company protested certain IRS positions within these tax years and entered into the administrative appeals process with the IRS. In December 2012, the Company received a statutory notice of deficiency for the 2006 year. The Company filed a petition in Tax Court in the first quarter of 2013 relating to the 2006 tax year. Currently, the Company is under examination by the IRS for its U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 2015 and 2017. It is anticipated that the IRS will complete its examination of the Company for 2015 by the end of the third quarter of 2018 and for 2017 by the end of the first quarter of 2019. As of March 31, 2018, the IRS has not proposed any significant adjustments to the Company’s tax positions for which the Company is not adequately reserved. Payments relating to other proposed assessments arising from the 2005 through 2017 examinations may not be made until a final agreement is reached between the Company and the IRS on such assessments or upon a final resolution resulting from the administrative appeals process or judicial action. In addition to the U.S. federal examination, there is also audit activity in several U.S. state and foreign jurisdictions. 3M anticipates changes to the Company’s uncertain tax positions due to the closing and resolution of audit issues for various audit years mentioned above and closure of statutes. Currently, the Company is estimating a decrease in unrecognized tax benefits during the next 12 months as a result of anticipated resolutions of audit issues. The total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are $518 million and $526 million, respectively. The Company recognizes interest and penalties accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in tax expense. The Company recognized in the consolidated statement of income on a gross basis approximately $9 million and $3 million of expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, respectively. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, accrued interest and penalties in the consolidated balance sheet on a gross basis were $69 million and $68 million, respectively. Included in these interest and penalty amounts are interest and penalties related to tax positions for which the ultimate deductibility is highly certain but for which there is uncertainty about the timing of such deductibility. Because of the impact of deferred tax accounting, other than interest and penalties, the disallowance of the shorter deductibility period would not affect the annual effective tax rate but would accelerate the payment of cash to the taxing authority to an earlier period. The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach. Under this approach, deferred income taxes represent the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and tax basis of assets and liabilities. The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce its deferred tax assets when uncertainty regarding their realizability exits. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had valuation allowances of $85 million and $81 million on its deferred tax assets, respectively. The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2018 was 37.2 percent, compared to 23.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 13.5 percentage points. Multiple factors increased the Company’s effective tax rate on a combined basis by 27.8 percentage points. They included impacts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) such as the measurement period adjustment to the provisional accounting of the TCJA’s enactment (discussed further below) as well as the TCJA’s global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provision and the elimination of the domestic manufacturing deduction. Lower excess tax benefits year-over-year related to employer share-based payments also increased the Company’s effective tax rate. This increase was partially offset by a 14.3 percentage point decrease in the effective rate, primarily related to favorable aspects of the TCJA such as the decrease in the U.S. income tax rate and provisions incentivizing foreign-derived intangible income (FDII), in addition to impacts associated with composition of income before taxes from both a geographic and discrete item (such as the resolution of the NRD Lawsuit, as defined and described in Note 14) perspective. The TCJA was enacted in December 2017. Among other things, the TCJA reduces the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent beginning in 2018, requires companies to pay a one-time transition tax on previously unremitted earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred and creates new taxes on certain foreign sourced earnings. The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 118, which provides guidance on accounting for enactment effects of the TCJA. SAB 118 provides a measurement period of up to one year from the TCJA’s enactment date for companies to complete their accounting under ASC 740. In accordance with SAB 118, to the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects of the TCJA is incomplete but it is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in its financial statements. If a company cannot determine a provisional estimate to be included in its financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the TCJA. In connection with 3M’s initial analysis of the impact of the enactment of the TCJA, the Company recorded a net tax expense of $762 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. As further discussed below, during the first quarter of 2018, 3M recognized a measurement period adjustment resulting in an additional tax expense of $217 million to this provisional accounting. Transition tax: The transition tax is a tax on previously untaxed accumulated and current earnings and profits (E&P) of certain of the Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries. To determine the amount of the transition tax, 3M must determine, in addition to other factors, the amount of post-1986 E&P of the relevant subsidiaries, as well as the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid on such earnings. Further, the transition tax is based in part on the amount of those earnings held in cash and other specified assets. 3M was able to make a reasonable estimate of the transition tax and recorded a provisional obligation and additional income tax expense of $745 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued subsequent guidance in the form of IRS Notices 2018-13 and 2018-26 relative to the currency translation rate used and entity classification for purposes of calculating the transition tax. The Company reflected the impact of this guidance and recorded a measurement period adjustment to its 2017 provisional accounting resulting in an additional income tax expense $132 million in the first quarter of 2018. The Company continues to gather additional information and will consider further guidance to more precisely compute the transition tax. The provisional amount may change when 3M finalizes the calculation of post-1986 foreign E&P previously deferred from U.S. federal taxation and finalizes the amounts held in cash or other specified assets. The TCJA’s transition tax is payable over eight years beginning in 2018. As of March 31, 2018, 3M reflected $144 million and $733 million in current accrued income taxes and long-term income taxes payable, respectively, associated with the transition tax. Remeasurement of deferred tax assets/liabilities and other impacts: 3M remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is generally 21 percent under the TCJA. 3M is still analyzing certain aspects of the TCJA, considering additional technical guidance, and refining its calculations, which could potentially affect the measurement of these balances or potentially give rise to new deferred tax amounts. This includes the potential impacts of the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provision within the TCJA on deferred tax assets/liabilities. 3M also is considering other impacts of the 2017 enactment of the TCJA including, but not limited to effects on the Company’s indefinite reinvestment assertion. 3M previously has not provided deferred taxes on unremitted earnings attributable to international companies that have been considered to be reinvested indefinitely. The full effects of underlying tax rates of the TCJA causes some reassessment of previous indefinite reinvestment assertions with respect to certain jurisdictions. While 3M was able to make a reasonable estimate of these impacts, it may be affected by other analyses related to the TCJA, including, but not limited to, the calculation of the transition tax on deferred foreign income. The provisional amount recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 related to deferred tax assets/liabilities and other impacts was a net additional income tax expense of $17 million. The Company reflected an additional income tax expense of $85 million in the first quarter of 2018 as a measurement period adjustment to its 2017 provisional accounting as a result of subsequent IRS technical guidance relative to changes in annual accounting periods for certain foreign corporations and other impacts of enactment of the TCJA. 3M has not completed its full analysis with respect to the GILTI provision within the TCJA. While 3M has recorded current tax on GILTI relative to 2018 operations, the Company has not yet elected a policy as to whether it will recognize deferred taxes for basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI or whether 3M will account for GILTI as period costs if and when incurred. 3M is not aware of other elements of the TCJA for which the Company was not yet able to make reasonable estimates of the enactment impact and for which it would continue accounting for them in accordance with ASC 740 on the basis of the tax laws in effect before the TCJA.

NOTE 8. Income Taxes

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, and various states and foreign jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2005.

The IRS has completed its field examination of the Company’s U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 2005 through 2014, and 2016. The Company protested certain IRS positions within these tax years and entered into the administrative appeals process with the IRS. In December 2012, the Company received a statutory notice of deficiency for the 2006 year. The Company filed a petition in Tax Court in the first quarter of 2013 relating to the 2006 tax year.

Currently, the Company is under examination by the IRS for its U.S. federal income tax returns for the years 2015 and 2017. It is anticipated that the IRS will complete its examination of the Company for 2015 by the end of the third quarter of 2018 and for 2017 by the end of the first quarter of 2019. As of March 31, 2018, the IRS has not proposed any significant adjustments to the Company’s tax positions for which the Company is not adequately reserved.

Payments relating to other proposed assessments arising from the 2005 through 2017 examinations may not be made until a final agreement is reached between the Company and the IRS on such assessments or upon a final resolution resulting from the administrative appeals process or judicial action. In addition to the U.S. federal examination, there is also audit activity in several U.S. state and foreign jurisdictions.

3M anticipates changes to the Company’s uncertain tax positions due to the closing and resolution of audit issues for various audit years mentioned above and closure of statutes. Currently, the Company is estimating a decrease in unrecognized tax benefits during the next 12 months as a result of anticipated resolutions of audit issues. The total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 are $518 million and $526 million, respectively.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in tax expense. The Company recognized in the consolidated statement of income on a gross basis approximately $9 million and $3 million of expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, respectively. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, accrued interest and penalties in the consolidated balance sheet on a gross basis were $69 million and $68 million, respectively. Included in these interest and penalty amounts are interest and penalties related to tax positions for which the ultimate deductibility is highly certain but for which there is uncertainty about the timing of such deductibility. Because of the impact of deferred tax accounting, other than interest and penalties, the disallowance of the shorter deductibility period would not affect the annual effective tax rate but would accelerate the payment of cash to the taxing authority to an earlier period.

The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach. Under this approach, deferred income taxes represent the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts and tax basis of assets and liabilities. The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce its deferred tax assets when uncertainty regarding their realizability exits. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company had valuation allowances of $85 million and $81 million on its deferred tax assets, respectively.

The effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2018 was 37.2 percent, compared to 23.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 13.5 percentage points. Multiple factors increased the Company’s effective tax rate on a combined basis by 27.8 percentage points. They included impacts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) such as the measurement period adjustment to the provisional accounting of the TCJA’s enactment (discussed further below) as well as the TCJA’s global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provision and the elimination of the domestic manufacturing deduction. Lower excess tax benefits year-over-year related to employer share-based payments also increased the Company’s effective tax rate. This increase was partially offset by a 14.3 percentage point decrease in the effective rate, primarily related to favorable aspects of the TCJA such as the decrease in the U.S. income tax rate and provisions incentivizing foreign-derived intangible income (FDII), in addition to impacts associated with composition of income before taxes from both a geographic and discrete item (such as the resolution of the NRD Lawsuit, as defined and described in Note 14) perspective.

The TCJA was enacted in December 2017. Among other things, the TCJA reduces the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent beginning in 2018, requires companies to pay a one-time transition tax on previously unremitted earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred and creates new taxes on certain foreign sourced earnings. The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 118, which provides guidance on accounting for enactment effects of the TCJA. SAB 118 provides a measurement period of up to one year from the TCJA’s enactment date for companies to complete their accounting under ASC 740. In accordance with SAB 118, to the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects of the TCJA is incomplete but it is able to determine a reasonable estimate, it must record a provisional estimate in its financial statements. If a company cannot determine a provisional estimate to be included in its financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 on the basis of the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the TCJA. In connection with 3M’s initial analysis of the impact of the enactment of the TCJA, the Company recorded a net tax expense of $762 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. As further discussed below, during the first quarter of 2018, 3M recognized a measurement period adjustment resulting in an additional tax expense of $217 million to this provisional accounting.

Transition tax: The transition tax is a tax on previously untaxed accumulated and current earnings and profits (E&P) of certain of the Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries. To determine the amount of the transition tax, 3M must determine, in addition to other factors, the amount of post-1986 E&P of the relevant subsidiaries, as well as the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid on such earnings. Further, the transition tax is based in part on the amount of those earnings held in cash and other specified assets. 3M was able to make a reasonable estimate of the transition tax and recorded a provisional obligation and additional income tax expense of $745 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued subsequent guidance in the form of IRS Notices 2018-13 and 2018-26 relative to the currency translation rate used and entity classification for purposes of calculating the transition tax. The Company reflected the impact of this guidance and recorded a measurement period adjustment to its 2017 provisional accounting resulting in an additional income tax expense $132 million in the first quarter of 2018. The Company continues to gather additional information and will consider further guidance to more precisely compute the transition tax. The provisional amount may change when 3M finalizes the calculation of post-1986 foreign E&P previously deferred from U.S. federal taxation and finalizes the amounts held in cash or other specified assets. The TCJA’s transition tax is payable over eight years beginning in 2018. As of March 31, 2018, 3M reflected $144 million and $733 million in current accrued income taxes and long-term income taxes payable, respectively, associated with the transition tax.

Remeasurement of deferred tax assets/liabilities and other impacts: 3M remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, which is generally 21 percent under the TCJA. 3M is still analyzing certain aspects of the TCJA, considering additional technical guidance, and refining its calculations, which could potentially affect the measurement of these balances or potentially give rise to new deferred tax amounts. This includes the potential impacts of the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provision within the TCJA on deferred tax assets/liabilities. 3M also is considering other impacts of the 2017 enactment of the TCJA including, but not limited to effects on the Company’s indefinite reinvestment assertion. 3M previously has not provided deferred taxes on unremitted earnings attributable to international companies that have been considered to be reinvested indefinitely. The full effects of underlying tax rates of the TCJA causes some reassessment of previous indefinite reinvestment assertions with respect to certain jurisdictions. While 3M was able to make a reasonable estimate of these impacts, it may be affected by other analyses related to the TCJA, including, but not limited to, the calculation of the transition tax on deferred foreign income. The provisional amount recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 related to deferred tax assets/liabilities and other impacts was a net additional income tax expense of $17 million. The Company reflected an additional income tax expense of $85 million in the first quarter of 2018 as a measurement period adjustment to its 2017 provisional accounting as a result of subsequent IRS technical guidance relative to changes in annual accounting periods for certain foreign corporations and other impacts of enactment of the TCJA.

3M has not completed its full analysis with respect to the GILTI provision within the TCJA. While 3M has recorded current tax on GILTI relative to 2018 operations, the Company has not yet elected a policy as to whether it will recognize deferred taxes for basis differences expected to reverse as GILTI or whether 3M will account for GILTI as period costs if and when incurred. 3M is not aware of other elements of the TCJA for which the Company was not yet able to make reasonable estimates of the enactment impact and for which it would continue accounting for them in accordance with ASC 740 on the basis of the tax laws in effect before the TCJA.