Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings Before Income Taxes and Provision for Income Taxes

Earnings before income taxes and provision for income taxes consisted of the following for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:

(in millions)	2015			2014			2013
Earnings before income taxes:
United States	$	8,078		$	7,763		$	6,929
Outside United States	—			11			13
Total	$	8,078		$	7,774		$	6,942
Provision for income taxes:
Current:
Federal	$	2,516		$	2,350		$	2,066
State and local	451			480			423
Outside United States	—			3			4
	2,967			2,833			2,493
Deferred:
Federal	(140		)	(124		)	(77		)
State and local	8			(5		)	(9		)
	(132		)	(129		)	(86		)
Total provision for income taxes	$	2,835		$	2,704		$	2,407

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was as follows:

(in millions)	2015			2014			2013
Balance at beginning of year	$	258		$	227		$	262
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	15			15			15
Additions for tax positions of prior years	57			29			35
Reductions for tax positions due to lapse of statutes of limitations	(4		)	(2		)	(1		)
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(86		)	—			—
Settlements	(82		)	(11		)	(84		)
Balance at end of year	$	158		$	258		$	227

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits and Consolidated Liability for Tax Contingencies

Unrecognized tax benefits and Altria Group, Inc.’s consolidated liability for tax contingencies at December 31, 2015 and 2014, were as follows:

(in millions)	2015			2014
Unrecognized tax benefits — Altria Group, Inc.	$	158		$	228
Unrecognized tax benefits — PMI	—			30
Unrecognized tax benefits	158			258
Accrued interest and penalties	14			57
Tax credits and other indirect benefits	(3		)	(17		)
Liability for tax contingencies	$	169		$	298

Reconciliation of Effective Tax Rate and U.S. Federal Statutory Rate

The effective income tax rate on pre-tax earnings differed from the U.S. federal statutory rate for the following reasons for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:

	2015		2014		2013
U.S. federal statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) resulting from:
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	3.7		4.0		3.8
Uncertain tax positions	(0.8	)	0.5		0.7
SABMiller dividend benefit	(0.5	)	(2.3	)	(2.0	)
Domestic manufacturing deduction	(2.0	)	(2.4	)	(2.7	)
Other	(0.3	)	—		(0.1	)
Effective tax rate	35.1	%	34.8	%	34.7	%

Schedule of Deferred Income Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effects of temporary differences that gave rise to deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following at December 31, 2015 and 2014:

(in millions)	2015			2014
Deferred income tax assets:
Accrued postretirement and postemployment benefits	$	953		$	1,054
Settlement charges	1,393			1,379
Accrued pension costs	512			410
Net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards	335			357
Total deferred income tax assets	3,193			3,200
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(441		)	(468		)
Intangible assets	(3,968		)	(3,915		)
Investment in SABMiller	(1,794		)	(2,039		)
Finance assets, net	(909		)	(1,123		)
Other	(116		)	(190		)
Total deferred income tax liabilities	(7,228		)	(7,735		)
Valuation allowances	(260		)	(211		)
Net deferred income tax liabilities	$	(4,295	)	$	(4,746	)