Income taxes

9 Months Ended

Oct. 29, 2011

Income taxes [Abstract]

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

5. Income taxes

The following table summarizes our income tax benefit and effective tax rates for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended October 29, 2011 and October 30, 2010:

	13 Weeks Ended						39 Weeks Ended
($ In millions)	Balance, October 29, 2011			Balance, October 30, 2010			Balance, October 29, 2011			October 30, 2010
Loss before income taxes	$	(179	)	$	(218	)	$	(374	)	$	(433	)
Income tax benefit	86			125			180			270
Effective tax rate	(48.0		)%	(57.3		)%	(48.1		)%	(62.4		)%

The effective tax rates for the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended October 29, 2011 and October 30, 2010 were based on our forecasted annualized effective tax rates, adjusted for discrete items that occurred within the periods presented. Our forecasted annualized effective tax rate is 48.0% for the thirty-nine weeks ended October 29, 2011 compared to 50.0% for the same period last year. The difference between our forecasted annualized effective tax rates was primarily due to the decrease in taxable permanent adjustments, a change in non-U.S. tax law, and a change in the mix of earnings between jurisdictions.

For the thirteen weeks ended October 29, 2011, our effective tax rate was impacted by a tax benefit of $1 million resulting from changes to our liability for uncertain tax positions. For the thirteen weeks ended October 30, 2010, our effective tax rate was impacted by a tax benefit of $8 million resulting from changes to our liability for uncertain tax positions. The tax benefit was partially offset by a tax expense of $1 million related to current taxes payable.

For the thirty-nine weeks ended October 29, 2011, our effective tax rate was impacted by a tax benefit of $3 million related to changes to our liability for uncertain tax positions and $1 million related to state income taxes. These tax benefits were partially offset by a tax expense of $3 million related to adjustments to deferred taxes resulting from a change in statutory tax rate. For the thirty-nine weeks ended October 30, 2010, our effective tax rate was impacted by tax benefits of $46 million related to changes to our liability for uncertain tax positions, $4 million related to state income taxes, $4 million related to adjustments to deferred taxes and $2 million related to adjustments to current taxes payable. These tax benefits were partially offset by a tax expense of $2 million related to an increase in our valuation allowance.