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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

NOTE 3 — INCOME TAXES

Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits was $414 million, including accrued interest of $41 million, as of September 30, 2016 ($554 million and $73 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2015). Unrecognized tax benefits of $136 million ($233 million as of December 31, 2015) would affect the effective rate, if recognized.

Our provision for income taxes for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2016 included tax benefits of $11 million and $129 million, respectively, related to the adoption of ASU 2016-09, which changes how companies account for certain aspects of share-based payments to employees. Under ASU 2016-09, we no longer record excess tax benefits (when the deductible amount related to the settlement of employee equity awards for tax purposes exceeds the cumulative compensation cost recognized for financial reporting purposes) in equity. Instead, we recognize these tax benefits (and deficiencies, if applicable) as a component of our tax provision. This reporting change is applied prospectively and prior period amounts are not restated (the excess tax benefits for the quarter and nine months ending September 30, 2015, related to the settlement of employee equity awards, were $34 million and $219 million, respectively, and were recorded in equity). ASU 2016-09 requires companies to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity, as previously required. We have elected to apply the change to the statement of cash flows presentation prospectively.

During the quarter ended September 30, 2016, the IRS completed its examination, resolving all outstanding federal tax issues for our 2011 and 2012 tax years. We reduced our provision for income taxes for the quarter and the nine months ended September 30, 2016 by $51 million, including interest of $27 million ($17 million, net of tax) primarily as a result of this resolution. 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.