QUALCOMM Incorporated Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

The components of the income tax provision were as follows (in millions):



	2018			2017			2016
Current provision (benefit):
Federal	$	2,559		$	72		$	4
State	(1		)	3			4
Foreign	777			1,256			1,411
	3,335			1,331			1,419
Deferred provision (benefit):
Federal	1,867			(586		)	(184		)
State	1			4			6
Foreign	174			(194		)	(110		)
	2,042			(776		)	(288		)
	$	5,377		$	555		$	1,131

The foreign component of the income tax provision consisted primarily of foreign withholding taxes on royalty revenues included in U.S. earnings.

The components of income before income taxes by U.S. and foreign jurisdictions were as follows (in millions):



	2018			2017			2016
United States	$	(1,713	)	$	(762	)	$	3,032
Foreign	2,226			3,782			3,801
	$	513		$	3,020		$	6,833

The foreign component of income before income taxes in foreign jurisdictions consisted primarily of income earned in Singapore.

The following is a reconciliation of the expected statutory federal income tax provision to our actual income tax provision (in millions):



	2018			2017			2016
Expected income tax provision at federal statutory tax rate	$	127		$	1,057		$	2,392
State income tax provision, net of federal benefit	2			8			19
Toll Charge from U.S. tax reform	5,236			—			—
Benefits from foreign income taxed at other than U.S. rates	(834		)	(963		)	(1,068		)
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets related to NXP termination fee (Note 9)	494			—			—
Remeasurement of deferred taxes due to changes in statutory rate due to U.S. tax reform	438			—			—
Benefits related to research and development tax credits	(136		)	(81		)	(143		)
Nondeductible charges and reversals related to the EC, KFTC and TFTC investigations	(119		)	363			—
Taxes on undistributed foreign earnings	87			—			—
Impact of changes in tax reserves and audit settlements for prior year tax positions	—			111			—
Worthless stock deduction of domestic subsidiary	—			—			(101		)
Other	82			60			32
	$	5,377		$	555		$	1,131

On December 22, 2017, tax reform legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Legislation) was enacted in the United States. The Tax Legislation significantly revises the United States corporate income tax by, among other things, lowering the corporate income tax rate to 21%, implementing a modified territorial tax system and imposing a one-time repatriation tax on deemed repatriated earnings and profits of U.S.-owned foreign subsidiaries (the Toll Charge). As a fiscal-year taxpayer, certain provisions of the Tax Legislation impacted us in fiscal 2018, including the change in the corporate income tax rate and the Toll Charge, while other provisions will be effective starting at the beginning of fiscal 2019, including the implementation of a modified territorial tax system. The United States federal income tax rate reduction was effective as of January 1, 2018. Accordingly, our federal statutory income tax rate for fiscal 2018 reflected a blended rate of approximately 25%.

Pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we have not finalized the accounting for the income tax effects of the Tax Legislation related to the Toll Charge. Further, we are in the process of analyzing the effects of new taxes due on certain foreign income, such as GILTI (global intangible low-taxed income), BEAT (base-erosion anti-abuse tax) and FDII (foreign-derived intangible income), and limitations on interest expense deductions (if certain conditions apply), all of which are effective starting in fiscal 2019, as well as other provisions of the Tax Legislation. We have elected to account for GILTI as period costs, if and when incurred. As a result of recognizing the impact of the Tax Legislation in income tax expense, certain tax effects, which were nominal, were stranded in accumulated other comprehensive income, and we will not reclassify such amounts to retained earnings. The impact of the Tax Legislation related to the Toll Charge may differ from this estimate during the remainder of the one-year measurement period due to, among other things, further refinement of our calculations, changes in interpretations and assumptions we have made, guidance that may be issued and actions we may take as a result of the Tax Legislation.

As a result of the Tax Legislation, we recorded a charge of $5.7 billion to income tax expense in fiscal 2018, comprised of $5.2 billion related to the estimated Toll Charge and $438 million resulting from the remeasurement of U.S. deferred tax assets and liabilities that existed at the end of fiscal 2017 at a lower enacted corporate income tax rate, which included a $135 million tax benefit recorded in fiscal 2018 related to the remeasurement of a U.S. deferred tax liability that was established as a result of a change in one of our tax positions due to Tax Legislation.

The Toll Charge is based on our post-1986 earnings and profits of U.S.-owned foreign subsidiaries through December 31, 2017 for which we had previously deferred U.S. income taxes. We have not yet finalized our calculation of the total post-1986 foreign earnings and profits for the respective foreign subsidiaries. Further, the Toll Charge is based in part on the amount of those earnings held in cash and other specific assets. In addition, we remeasured our deferred tax assets and liabilities that existed at the end of fiscal 2017 based on the income tax rate at which they are expected to reverse, which primarily assumes the reduced income tax rate of 21% applicable in fiscal 2019, resulting in a reduction to noncurrent net deferred tax assets of $438 million in fiscal 2018.

We have historically asserted our intention to indefinitely reinvest the operating earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries outside the United States based on our plans for use and/or investment outside of the United States and our belief that our sources of cash and liquidity in the United States would be sufficient to meet future domestic cash needs. The Tax Legislation eliminated certain material tax effects on the repatriation of cash to the United States. Future repatriation of cash and other property held by our foreign subsidiaries will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. As a result, we reevaluated our historic assertion, and as of September 30, 2018, we no longer consider substantially all of our foreign earnings to be indefinitely reinvested in our foreign subsidiaries. As a result of our change in assertion, during fiscal 2018, we recorded a charge of $87 million to income tax expense related to outside basis differences that are no longer permanently reinvested. We have not recorded a deferred tax liability of approximately $31 million related to foreign withholding taxes on approximately $137 million of undistributed earnings of certain subsidiaries that we continue to consider to be indefinitely reinvested outside the United States. Should we decide to no longer indefinitely reinvest such earnings outside the United States, we would have to adjust the income tax provision in the period management makes such determination.

As a result of the Toll Charge imposed by the Tax Legislation, we expect to fully utilize all of our unused federal tax credits that existed at the end of fiscal 2017 of $1.3 billion. We will elect to pay the Toll Charge, interest free, over a period of eight years, with payments beginning on January 15, 2019. We did not discount the amount of the Toll Charge. At September 30, 2018, we estimated that we will pay $2.5 billion for the Toll Charge, which was net of tax credit carryforwards and tax credits generated through fiscal 2018. This amount may be further reduced by excess tax credits generated in fiscal 2019. At September 30, 2018, $201 million, which represents the first installment that is due on January 15, 2019, was included in other current liabilities, with the remaining liability included in noncurrent income taxes payable.

As a result of the Tax Legislation, in fiscal 2019, several of our foreign subsidiaries will make 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. We believe that, by these foreign subsidiaries being treated 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, both of which are effective for us starting in fiscal 2019. As a result of making these check-the-box elections in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, we expect to record an estimated tax benefit of $525 million to $575 million 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 the new guidance in the first quarter fiscal 2019 that changes the accounting for income tax effects of such intra-entity transfers of assets (Note 1), we expect to record an estimated deferred tax asset of approximately $2.5 billion.

Income tax expense for fiscal 2018 was further negatively impacted by the charge recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 related to the termination fee paid to NXP, which did not result in a tax benefit after the consideration of realizability of such loss. Fiscal 2018 and 2017 income tax expense was also impacted by the EC, KFTC and TFTC fines, and settlement with the TFTC, which are not deductible for tax purposes and portions of which were attributable to foreign jurisdictions and to the United States. These impacts were partially offset in fiscal 2018 and 2017 by lower U.S. revenues primarily related to decreased royalty revenues from Apple’s contract manufacturers and, for fiscal 2017, the BlackBerry arbitration.

Income tax expense for fiscal 2017 also reflected the increase in our Singapore tax rate as a result of the expiration of certain of our tax incentives in March 2017, which was substantially offset by tax benefits resulting from the increase in our Singapore tax rate that will be in effect when certain deferred tax assets are scheduled to reverse. During the third quarter of fiscal 2018, we entered into a new tax incentive agreement in Singapore that results in a reduced tax rate from March 2017 through March 2022, provided that we meet specified employment and investment criteria in Singapore. Our Singapore tax rate will increase in March 2022 as a result of expiration of these incentives and again in March 2027 upon the expiration of tax incentives under a prior agreement. As a result of this new tax incentive, our income tax expense for fiscal 2018 was reduced by approximately $130 million. Without these tax incentives, our income tax expense would have been higher and impacted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Qualcomm as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):



	2018		2017		2016
Additional income tax expense	$	652	$	493	$	487
Reduction to diluted earnings (loss) per share	0.45		0.33		0.32

We had deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities as follows (in millions):



	September 30, 2018			September 24, 2017
Unused tax credits	$	1,044		$	1,798
Unused net operating losses	696			208
Unearned revenues	446			886
Accrued liabilities and reserves	396			888
Unrealized losses on other investments and marketable securities	126			151
Share-based compensation	97			241
Other	26			21
Total gross deferred tax assets	2,831			4,193
Valuation allowance	(1,529		)	(863		)
Total net deferred tax assets	1,302			3,330
Intangible assets	(322		)	(535		)
Accrued revenues	(202		)	—
Accrued withholding taxes	(90		)	—
Unrealized gains on other investments and marketable securities	(26		)	(33		)
Other	(49		)	(95		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(689		)	(663		)
Net deferred tax assets	$	613		$	2,667
Reported as:
Non-current deferred tax assets	$	904		$	2,900
Non-current deferred tax liabilities (1)	(291		)	(233		)
	$	613		$	2,667


(1)	Non-current deferred tax liabilities were included in other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

At September 30, 2018, we had unused federal net operating loss carryforwards of $213 million expiring from 2021 through 2035, unused state net operating loss carryforwards of $949 million expiring from 2019 through 2038 and unused foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $2.3 billion, of which $2.0 billion expire in 2027. At September 30, 2018, we had unused state tax credits of $892 million, of which substantially all may be carried forward indefinitely, unused federal tax credits of $126 million expiring from 2026 through 2028 and unused tax credits of $26 million in foreign jurisdictions expiring from 2033 through 2038. We do not expect our federal net operating loss carryforwards to expire unused.

At September 30, 2018, we have provided a valuation allowance on certain state tax credits, foreign deferred tax assets and state net operating losses of $879 million, $604 million and $46 million, respectively. The valuation allowances reflect the uncertainties surrounding our ability to generate sufficient future taxable income in certain foreign and state tax jurisdictions to utilize our net operating losses and our ability to generate sufficient capital gains to utilize all capital losses. We believe, more likely than not, that we will have sufficient taxable income after deductions related to share-based awards to utilize our remaining deferred tax assets.

A summary of the changes in the amount of unrecognized tax benefits for fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016 follows (in millions):



	2018			2017			2016
Beginning balance of unrecognized tax benefits	$	372		$	271		$	40
Additions based on prior year tax positions	7			92			20
Reductions for prior year tax positions and lapse in statute of limitations	(11		)	(11		)	(6		)
Additions for current year tax positions	18			23			218
Settlements with taxing authorities	(169		)	(3		)	(1		)
Ending balance of unrecognized tax benefits	$	217		$	372		$	271

We believe that it is reasonably possible that certain unrecognized tax benefits recorded at September 30, 2018 may result in a cash payment in fiscal 2019. Unrecognized tax benefits at September 30, 2018 included $92 million for tax positions that, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate. The unrecognized tax benefits differ from the amount that would affect our effective tax rate primarily because the unrecognized tax benefits were included on a gross basis and did not reflect secondary impacts such as the federal deduction for state taxes, adjustments to deferred tax assets and the valuation allowance that might be required if our tax positions are sustained. The decrease in unrecognized tax benefits in fiscal 2018 was primarily due to an agreement reached with the IRS related to tax positions on the classification of income in our fiscal 2016 federal income tax return. The increase in unrecognized tax benefits in fiscal 2017 was primarily due to tax positions related to transfer pricing. We believe that it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits at September 30, 2018 may increase or decrease in fiscal 2019.

We file income tax returns in the United States federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. We are currently a participant in the IRS Compliance Assurance Process, whereby we and the IRS endeavor to agree on the treatment of all tax issues prior to the tax return being filed. We are no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations for years prior to fiscal 2015. We are subject to examination by the California Franchise Tax Board for fiscal years after 2014. We are also subject to examination in other taxing jurisdictions in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions, 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 give rise to a revision become known. As of September 30, 2018, 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.

Cash amounts paid for income taxes, net of refunds received, were $877 million, $1.0 billion and $1.3 billion for fiscal 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.