Income Taxes (Notes) |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Jun. 30, 2019 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes | Income Taxes
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Legislation), which was enacted during the first quarter of fiscal 2018, significantly revised the United States corporate income tax by, among other things, lowering the corporate income tax rate to 21% and imposing a one-time repatriation tax on deemed repatriated earnings and profits of U.S.-owned foreign subsidiaries (the Toll Charge). The Tax Legislation fundamentally changed the taxation of multinational entities, including a shift from a system of worldwide taxation with deferral to a hybrid territorial system, featuring a participation exemption regime with current taxation of certain foreign income, a minimum tax on low-taxed foreign earnings and new measures to deter base erosion and promote U.S. production. As a fiscal-year taxpayer, certain provisions of the Tax Legislation became effective starting at the beginning of fiscal 2019, including GILTI (global intangible low-taxed income), a new tax on income of foreign corporations, BEAT (base-erosion and anti-abuse tax) and FDII (foreign-derived intangible income). In response to the Tax Legislation and to better align our profits with activities, we implemented certain tax restructuring in fiscal 2018 and 2019. As a result, beginning in fiscal 2019, substantially all of our income is in the U.S., of which a significant portion qualifies for preferential treatment as FDII at a 13% effective tax rate. The impact of GILTI and BEAT is negligible. Accordingly, our estimated annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2019 reflects the effects of these components of the Tax Legislation. Our annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2018 reflected a blended federal statutory rate of approximately 25%.
As a result of the Tax Legislation, in fiscal 2019, several of our foreign subsidiaries made tax elections to be treated as U.S. branches for federal income tax purposes (commonly referred to as “check-the-box” elections) effective beginning in fiscal 2018 and 2019. Although beginning in fiscal 2019 the income of these entities will be included in our consolidated U.S. tax return, we believe that by treating these foreign subsidiaries as U.S. branches for federal income taxes, rather than controlled foreign corporations, we will significantly reduce the risk of being subject to GILTI and BEAT taxes. As a result of making these check-the-box elections, we recorded a tax benefit of $570 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 due to establishing new U.S. net deferred tax assets resulting from the difference between the GAAP basis and the U.S. federal tax carryover basis of the existing assets and liabilities of those foreign subsidiaries, primarily related to customer incentive liabilities that have not been deducted for tax purposes. Additionally, during fiscal 2018, one of our foreign subsidiaries distributed certain intellectual property to a U.S. subsidiary resulting in a difference between the GAAP basis and the U.S. federal tax basis of the distributed intellectual property. Upon adoption of new accounting guidance in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we recorded a deferred tax asset of approximately $2.6 billion, primarily related to the distributed intellectual property, with an adjustment to opening retained earnings (Note 1). During the third quarter of fiscal 2019, the United States Treasury Department issued new temporary regulations that resulted in a change to the deductibility of dividend income received by a U.S. stockholder from a foreign corporation. As a result of this change, pursuant to an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, we will forgo the federal tax basis step-up in such distributed intellectual property. Therefore, the related deferred tax asset was written-off, resulting in a $2.5 billion charge to income tax expense in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.
We estimate our annual effective income tax rate to be 41% for fiscal 2019, which included the impact of the $2.5 billion charge recorded discretely in the third quarter to income tax expense resulting from the write-off of the deferred tax asset related to the distributed intellectual property and the impact of the tax benefit of $570 million recorded discretely in the first quarter due to establishing new U.S. net deferred tax assets from making certain check-the-box elections. The estimated annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2019 was also impacted by the 2019 EC fine recorded in the third quarter of fiscal 2019, which is not deductible for tax purposes, and also reflected benefits from our FDII deduction and research and development tax credits. The annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2018 was impacted by the combined effect of the Toll Charge, the remeasurement of deferred tax assets and liabilities and our decision to no longer indefinitely reinvest certain foreign earnings, all of which resulted from the Tax Legislation. The annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2018 was also impacted by the termination fee paid to NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXP), the 2018 EC fine, settlement with the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC), allocation of expenses to our U.S. operations and new Singapore tax incentives.
The effective tax rate of 61% for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 was higher than the estimated annual effective tax rate of 41% primarily due to the $2.5 billion charge to income tax expense recorded discretely in the third quarter of fiscal 2019 resulting from the write-off of the deferred tax asset related to the distributed intellectual property. The estimated annual effective tax rate for fiscal 2019 was also impacted by the tax benefit of $570 million recorded discretely in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 due to establishing new U.S. net deferred tax assets from making certain check-the-box elections.
Unrecognized tax benefits were $230 million and $217 million at June 30, 2019 and September 30, 2018, respectively. We believe that it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits at June 30, 2019 may increase or decrease in the next 12 months.
The United States Treasury Department has issued proposed regulations on several provisions of the Tax Legislation, including foreign tax credits, FDII, BEAT and interest expense deduction limitations, which are expected to be finalized in the next several months. When finalized, these proposed regulations may adversely affect our provision for income taxes, results of operations and/or cash flows.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions and are currently under examination by various tax authorities worldwide, most notably in countries where we earn a routine return and tax authorities believe substantial value-add activities are performed. These examinations are at various stages with respect to assessments, claims, deficiencies and refunds, many of which are open for periods after fiscal 2000. We continually assess the likelihood and amount of potential adjustments and adjust the income tax provision, income taxes payable and deferred taxes in the period in which the facts giving rise to a revision become known. As of June 30, 2019, we believe that adequate amounts have been reserved for based on facts known. However, the final determination of tax audits and any related legal proceedings could materially differ from amounts reflected in our income tax provision and the related accruals.
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