Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

8. Income Taxes

Effective Tax Rate

We compute our provision for or benefit from income taxes by applying the estimated annual effective tax rate to income or loss from recurring operations and adding the effects of any discrete income tax items specific to the period.

We recognized excess tax benefits on share-based compensation of $47 million and $52 million in our provision for income taxes for the three months ended October 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Our effective tax rate for the three months ended October 31, 2021 was approximately 4%. Excluding discrete tax items primarily related to share-based compensation tax benefits mentioned above, our effective tax rate was 25%. The difference from the federal statutory rate of 21% was primarily due to state income taxes and non-deductible share-based compensation, which were partially offset by the tax benefit we received from the federal research and experimentation credit.

Our effective tax rate for the three months ended October 31, 2020 was approximately 6%. Excluding discrete tax items primarily related to share-based compensation tax benefits mentioned above, our effective tax rate was 25%. The difference from the federal statutory rate of 21% was primarily due to state income taxes and non-deductible share-based compensation, which were partially offset by the tax benefit we received from the federal research and experimentation credit.

In the current global tax policy environment, the U.S. and other domestic and foreign governments continue to consider, and in some cases enact, changes in corporate tax laws. As changes occur, we account for finalized legislation in the period of enactment.

Unrecognized Tax Benefits and Other Considerations

The total amount of our unrecognized tax benefits at July 31, 2021 was $190 million. If we were to recognize these net benefits, our income tax expense would reflect a favorable net impact of $109 million. There were no material changes to these amounts during the three months ended October 31, 2021. We do not believe that it is reasonably possible that there will be a significant increase or decrease in our unrecognized tax benefits over the next 12 months.

We have offset a $75 million long-term liability for uncertain tax positions against our long-term income tax receivable at October 31, 2021 and July 31, 2021. The long-term income tax receivable at October 31, 2021 and July 31, 2021 was primarily related to the government’s approval of a method of accounting change request for fiscal 2018 and a refund claim related to Credit Karma’s alternative minimum tax credit that was recorded as part of the acquisition.