Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

NOTE 3 — INCOME TAXES

Our provision for income taxes for the quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was $112 million and $279 million, respectively, and the effective tax rates were 16.2% and 21.2%, respectively. Our provision for income taxes included tax benefits related to the settlement of employee equity awards of $53 million and $49 million for the quarters ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits was $525 million, including accrued interest of $65 million, as of March 31, 2020 ($550 million and $62 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2019). Unrecognized tax benefits of $158 million ($160 million as of December 31, 2019) would affect the effective rate, if recognized.

The Internal Revenue Service was conducting an examination of the Company’s 2016, 2017 and 2018 federal income tax returns at March 31, 2020. 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.