Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

NOTE 3 — INCOME TAXES

Our provisions for income taxes for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 were $349 million and $393 million, respectively, and the effective tax rates were 21.5% and 21.7%, respectively. Our provisions for income taxes included tax benefits related to settlements of employee equity awards of $64 million and $74 million for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits was $654 million, including accrued interest of $104 million, as of March 31, 2022 ($642 million and $99 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2021). Unrecognized tax benefits of $230 million ($217 million as of December 31, 2021) would affect the effective rate, if recognized.

At March 31, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service was conducting examinations of the Company’s 2016, 2017 and 2018 federal income tax returns and the 2019 return for one affiliated partnership. We are also subject to examination by state and foreign taxing authorities. Depending on the resolution of any federal, state and foreign tax disputes, the completion of examinations by federal, state or foreign taxing authorities, or the expiration of statutes of limitation for specific taxing jurisdictions, we believe it is reasonably possible that our liability for unrecognized tax benefits may significantly increase or decrease within the next 12 months. However, we are currently unable to estimate the range of any possible change.