Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings Before Income Taxes and Provision for Income Taxes

Earnings before income taxes and (benefit) provision for income taxes consisted of the following for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015:

(in millions)	2017			2016			2015
Earnings before income taxes:
United States	$	9,809		$	21,867		$	8,078
Outside United States	19			(15		)	—
Total	$	9,828		$	21,852		$	8,078
Provision (benefit) for income taxes:
Current:
Federal	$	2,346		$	4,093		$	2,516
State and local	366			390			451
Outside United States	15			6			—
	2,727			4,489			2,967
Deferred:
Federal	(3,213		)	3,102			(140		)
State and local	86			20			8
Outside United States	1			(3		)	—
	(3,126		)	3,119			(132		)
Total (benefit) provision for income taxes	$	(399	)	$	7,608		$	2,835

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, 2017, 2016 and 2015 was as follows:

(in millions)	2017			2016			2015
Balance at beginning of year	$	169		$	158		$	258
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	—			15			15
Additions for tax positions of prior years	129			29			57
Reductions for tax positions due to lapse of statutes of limitations	(4		)	(4		)	(4		)
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(208		)	(28		)	(86		)
Settlements	(20		)	(1		)	(82		)
Balance at end of year	$	66		$	169		$	158

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, 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

(in millions)	2017			2016
Unrecognized tax benefits	$	66		$	169
Accrued interest and penalties	9			23
Tax credits and other indirect benefits	(1		)	(6		)
Liability for tax contingencies	$	74		$	186

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, 2017, 2016 and 2015:

	2017		2016		2015
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	3.5		1.2		3.7
Re-measurement of net deferred tax liabilities	(31.2	)	—		—
Tax basis in foreign investments	(7.8	)	—		—
Deemed repatriation tax	4.2		—		—
Uncertain tax positions	(0.9	)	—		(0.8	)
AB InBev/SABMiller dividend benefit	(5.9	)	(0.6	)	(0.5	)
Domestic manufacturing deduction	(1.8	)	(0.8	)	(2.0	)
Other	0.8		—		(0.3	)
Effective tax rate	(4.1	)%	34.8	%	35.1	%

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, 2017 and 2016:

(in millions)	2017			2016
Deferred income tax assets:
Accrued postretirement and postemployment benefits	$	539		$	952
Settlement charges	614			1,446
Accrued pension costs	136			330
Net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards	18			288
Total deferred income tax assets	1,307			3,016
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(261		)	(429		)
Intangible assets	(2,674		)	(4,032		)
Investment in AB InBev	(2,859		)	(5,546		)
Finance assets, net	(404		)	(708		)
Other	(121		)	(125		)
Total deferred income tax liabilities	(6,319		)	(10,840		)
Valuation allowances	—			(240		)
Net deferred income tax liabilities	$	(5,012	)	$	(8,064	)