INCOME TAXES |
3 Months Ended |
|---|---|
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Mar. 31, 2019
USD ($)
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| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| INCOME TAXES |
INCOME TAXES
Our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019 was approximately 22.8% compared with 19.0% in the same period of 2018. The recognition of excess tax benefits related to share-based compensation in income tax expense reduced our effective tax rate by 0.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2019 compared to 2.7% in the same period of 2018. Other favorable items that impacted our effective tax rate in the first quarter of 2018, but did not recur in 2019, included favorable resolutions of uncertain tax positions and favorable tax provisions enacted in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
As discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, we have recognized liabilities for uncertain tax positions. We reevaluate these uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. A number of years may elapse before an uncertain tax position is audited and ultimately settled. It is difficult to predict the ultimate outcome or the timing of resolution for uncertain tax positions. It is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits could significantly increase or decrease within the next twelve months. However, an estimate of the range of reasonably possible outcomes cannot be made. Items that may cause changes to unrecognized tax benefits include the timing of interest deductions and the allocation of income and expense between tax jurisdictions. These changes could result from the settlement of ongoing litigation, the completion of ongoing examinations, the expiration of the statutes of limitations, additional regulatory guidance on the Tax Act or other unforeseen circumstances.
As discussed in note 17, we recognized pre-tax transformation strategy costs of $123 million in the first quarter of 2019. As a result, we recorded an additional income tax benefit of $30 million. This benefit was generated at a higher average tax rate than the U.S. federal statutory tax rate primarily due to the effect of U.S. state and local taxes and foreign taxes.
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| Transformation cost | $ 123,000,000 |