INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES

We provide our calculations of ETRs in the following table.

INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT) AND EFFECTIVE INCOME TAX RATES
(Dollars in millions)
	Years ended December 31,
	2024			2023			2022
Sempra:
Income tax expense	$	219		$	490		$	556
Income before income taxes and equity earnings	$	2,110		$	2,627		$	1,343
Equity earnings, before income tax(1)	603			633			666
Pretax income	$	2,713		$	3,260		$	2,009
Effective income tax rate	8		%	15		%	28		%
SDG&E:
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	153		$	(26)		$	182
Income before income taxes	$	1,044		$	910		$	1,097
Effective income tax rate	15		%	(3)		%	17		%
SoCalGas:
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	31		$	(5)		$	138
Income before income taxes	$	987		$	807		$	738
Effective income tax rate	3		%	(1)		%	19		%

(1)    We discuss how we recognize equity earnings in Note 5.

For SDG&E and SoCalGas, the CPUC requires flow-through rate-making treatment for the current income tax benefit or expense arising from certain property-related and other temporary differences between the treatment for financial reporting and income tax, which will reverse over time. Under the regulatory accounting treatment required for these flow-through temporary differences, deferred income tax assets and liabilities are not recorded to deferred income tax expense, but rather to a regulatory asset or liability, which impacts the ETR. As a result, changes in the relative size of these items compared to pretax income, from period to period, can cause variations in the ETR. Items subject to flow-through treatment include:

▪repairs expenditures related to certain utility plant fixed assets

▪the equity component of AFUDC, which is non-taxable

▪cost of removal related to certain utility plant assets

▪utility self-developed software expenditures

▪depreciation related to certain utility plant assets

▪state income taxes

AFUDC related to equity recorded for regulated construction projects at Sempra Infrastructure has similar flow-through treatment.

We present in the table below reconciliations of net U.S. statutory federal income tax rates to our ETRs.

RECONCILIATION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX RATES TO EFFECTIVE INCOME TAX RATES
	Years ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
Sempra:
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	21	%	21	%	21	%
Valuation allowances	14		—		(2)
Utility depreciation	4		3		4
Non-U.S. earnings taxed at rates different from the U.S. statutory income tax rate(2)	1		1		3
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	1		1		1
Outside basis differences	—		—		6
Remeasurement of deferred taxes	—		(1)		(3)
Tax credits	(1)		(5)		(1)
Utility self-developed software expenditures	(1)		(1)		—
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(1)		(1)		(1)
Amortization of excess deferred income taxes	(1)		(1)		(2)
Resolution of prior years’ income tax items	(2)		(2)		(2)
Noncontrolling interests	(3)		(3)		—
Utility repairs expenditures	(8)		(6)		(5)
Foreign exchange and inflation effects(1)	(14)		9		9
Other, net	(2)		—		—
Effective income tax rate	8	%	15	%	28	%
SDG&E:
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	21	%	21	%	21	%
Depreciation	5		5		3
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	3		2		4
Self-developed software expenditures	(1)		(1)		—
Resolution of prior years’ income tax items	(1)		(1)		(2)
Amortization of excess deferred income taxes	(1)		(2)		(2)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(1)		(2)		(2)
Tax credits	(1)		(16)		—
Repairs expenditures	(9)		(8)		(5)
Other, net	—		(1)		—
Effective income tax rate	15	%	(3)	%	17	%
SoCalGas:
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	21	%	21	%	21	%
Depreciation	5		5		5
Nondeductible expenditures	—		—		2
State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	(1)		(2)		2
Amortization of excess deferred income taxes	(1)		(2)		(2)
Allowance for equity funds used during construction	(2)		(1)		(2)
Self-developed software expenditures	(2)		(2)		—
Resolution of prior years’ income tax items	(3)		(6)		—
Repairs expenditures	(14)		(14)		(6)
Other, net	—		—		(1)
Effective income tax rate	3	%	(1)	%	19	%

(1)    Due to fluctuation of the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar. We record income tax expense (benefit) from the transactional effects of foreign currency and inflation because of appreciation (depreciation) of the Mexican peso.

(2)    Related to operations in Mexico.

We expect to repatriate approximately $3.1 billion of foreign undistributed earnings in the foreseeable future, and have accrued $100 million of U.S. state deferred income tax liability at December 31, 2024. We repatriated approximately $100 million and $108 million to the U.S. in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

In the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized income tax expense of $120 million for a deferred income tax liability related to outside basis differences in our foreign subsidiaries that we had previously considered to be indefinitely reinvested. We have not recorded deferred income taxes with respect to remaining basis differences of approximately $700 million between financial statement and income tax investment amounts in our non-U.S. subsidiaries because we consider them to be indefinitely reinvested as of December 31, 2024. The remaining basis differences are calculated pursuant to U.S. federal tax law, which may differ from tax law in California and foreign jurisdictions. It is currently not practicable to determine the hypothetical amount of tax that might be payable if the underlying basis differences were realized.

The table below presents the geographic location of pretax income.

PRETAX INCOME BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
(Dollars in millions)
	Years ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
Sempra:
U.S.	$	2,354	$	2,678	$	1,449
Non-U.S.	359		582		560
Total(1)	$	2,713	$	3,260	$	2,009

(1)    See the Income Tax Expense (Benefit) and Effective Income Tax Rates table above for the calculation of pretax income.

The components of income tax expense are as follows.

INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)
(Dollars in millions)
	Years ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
Sempra:
Current:
U.S. federal	$	73	$	102	$	—
U.S. state	(4)		3		(1)
Non-U.S.	179		208		165
Total	248		313		164
Deferred:
U.S. federal	366		(56)		248
U.S. state	28		18		50
Non-U.S.	(422)		225		94
Total(1)	(28)		187		392
Deferred investment tax credits	(1)		(10)		—
Total income tax expense	$	219	$	490	$	556
SDG&E:
Current:
U.S. federal	$	(16)	$	(156)	$	76
U.S. state	—		(5)		13
Total	(16)		(161)		89
Deferred:
U.S. federal	129		111		54
U.S. state	41		35		38
Total	170		146		92
Deferred investment tax credits	(1)		(11)		1
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	153	$	(26)	$	182
SoCalGas:
Current:
U.S. federal	$	3	$	(6)	$	(5)
U.S. state	—		(11)		(3)
Total	3		(17)		(8)
Deferred:
U.S. federal	45		22		125
U.S. state	(16)		(11)		22
Total	29		11		147
Deferred investment tax credits	(1)		1		(1)
Total income tax expense (benefit)	$	31	$	(5)	$	138

(1)    In 2024 and 2023, Deferred Income Taxes and Investment Tax Credits on the Sempra Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows also includes $9 and $72, respectively, of income taxes included in equity earnings, which are recorded net of income tax under a tax sharing agreement with Oncor.

The tables below present the components of deferred income taxes:

DEFERRED INCOME TAXES
(Dollars in millions)
	December 31,
	2024		2023
Sempra:
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Differences in financial and tax bases of fixed assets, investments and other assets(1)	$	7,164	$	6,875
U.S. state and non-U.S. withholding tax on repatriation of foreign earnings	79		55
Regulatory balancing accounts	850		727
Right-of-use assets – operating leases	325		211
Property taxes	74		68
Postretirement benefits	150		47
Other deferred income tax liabilities	94		68
Total deferred income tax liabilities	8,736		8,051
Deferred income tax assets:
Tax credits	1,485		1,468
Net operating losses	1,105		982
Compensation-related items	225		157
Operating lease liabilities	301		179
Other deferred income tax assets	219		96
Bad debt allowance	151		144
Accrued expenses not yet deductible	80		89
Deferred income tax assets before valuation allowances	3,566		3,115
Less: valuation allowances	503		189
Total deferred income tax assets	3,063		2,926
Net deferred income tax liability(2)	$	5,673	$	5,125

(1)    In addition to the financial over tax basis differences in fixed assets, the amount also includes financial over tax basis differences in various interests in partnerships and certain subsidiaries.

(2)    At December 31, 2024 and 2023, includes $172 and $129, respectively, recorded as a noncurrent asset and $5,845 and $5,254, respectively, recorded as a noncurrent liability on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

DEFERRED INCOME TAXES
(Dollars in millions)
	SDG&E				SoCalGas
	December 31,
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Differences in financial and tax bases of utility plant and other assets	$	2,805	$	2,641	$	2,594	$	2,272
Regulatory balancing accounts	545		418		306		309
Right-of-use assets – operating leases	222		103		5		8
Property taxes	47		43		27		25
Postretirement benefits	—		—		124		71
Other deferred income tax liabilities	—		—		2		4
Total deferred income tax liabilities	3,619		3,205		3,058		2,689
Deferred income tax assets:
Tax credits	8		7		2		7
Compensation-related items	8		9		26		31
Operating lease liabilities	222		103		5		8
Bad debt allowance	29		37		72		86
Accrued expenses not yet deductible	10		11		54		56
Net operating losses	122		146		874		890
Other deferred income tax assets	9		19		20		25
Total deferred income tax assets	408		332		1,053		1,103
Net deferred income tax liability	$	3,211	$	2,873	$	2,005	$	1,586

The following table summarizes our unused NOLs and tax credit carryforwards.

NET OPERATING LOSSES AND TAX CREDIT CARRYFORWARDS
(Dollars in millions)
	Unused amount at December 31, 2024		Year expiration begins
Sempra:
U.S. federal:
NOLs(1)	$	3,091	2037
General business tax credits(1)	126		2043
Corporate alternative minimum tax credits(1)	676		Indefinite
Foreign tax credits(2)	706		2025
U.S. state:
NOLs(2)	5,912		2027
General business tax credits(1)	24		2027
Non-U.S.(2):
NOLs	782		2025
Foreign tax credits	5		Indefinite
SDG&E:
U.S. federal(1):
NOLs	$	279	Indefinite
General business tax credits	1		2044
U.S. state NOLs(1)	909		2043
SoCalGas:
U.S. federal NOLs(1)	$	2,857	Indefinite
U.S. state NOLs(1)	3,917		2042

(1)    We have recorded deferred income tax benefits on these NOLs and tax credits, in total, because we currently believe they will be realized on a more-likely-than-not-basis.

(2)    We have not recorded deferred income tax benefits on a portion of these NOLs and tax credits because we currently believe they will not be realized on a more-likely-than-not-basis, as we discuss below.

A valuation allowance is recorded when, based on more-likely-than-not criteria, negative evidence outweighs positive evidence with regard to our ability to realize a deferred income tax asset in the future. In the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized income tax expense of $330 million from changes to a valuation allowance against foreign tax credits that were carried forward from the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For various U.S. state and non-U.S. jurisdictions, the negative evidence outweighs the positive evidence primarily due to cumulative pretax losses resulting in deferred income tax assets that we currently do not believe will be realized on a more-likely-than-not basis.

The following table provides the valuation allowances that we recorded against a portion of our total deferred income tax assets shown above in the “Deferred Income Taxes – Sempra” table.

VALUATION ALLOWANCES BY JURISDICTION
(Dollars in millions)
	December 31,
	2024		2023
Sempra:
U.S. federal	$	406	$	108
U.S. state	47		51
Non-U.S.	50		30
	$	503	$	189

Following is a reconciliation of the changes in unrecognized income tax benefits and the potential effect on our ETR for the years ended December 31:

RECONCILIATION OF UNRECOGNIZED INCOME TAX BENEFITS
(Dollars in millions)
	2024		2023		2022
Sempra:
Balance at January 1	$	492	$	278	$	304
Increase in prior period tax positions	40		308		16
Decrease in prior period tax positions	(8)		(63)		(2)
Decrease in current period tax positions	—		(21)		—
Settlements with tax authorities	(15)		(16)		(43)
Expiration of statutes of limitations	—		—		(1)
Increase in current period tax positions	39		6		4
Balance at December 31	$	548	$	492	$	278
Of December 31 balance, amounts related to tax positions that if recognized in future years would
decrease the effective tax rate(1)	$	(229)	$	(224)	$	(117)
increase the effective tax rate(1)	1		1		38
SDG&E:
Balance at January 1	$	14	$	14	$	14
Increase in prior period tax positions	—		2		—
Settlements with tax authorities	—		(2)		—
Balance at December 31	$	14	$	14	$	14
Of December 31 balance, amounts related to tax positions that if recognized in future years would
decrease the effective tax rate(1)	$	(11)	$	(11)	$	(11)
increase the effective tax rate(1)	1		1		1
SoCalGas:
Balance at January 1	$	29	$	77	$	72
Increase in prior period tax positions	—		1		1
Decrease in prior period tax positions	—		(47)		—
Increase in current period tax positions	—		—		4
Settlements with tax authorities	—		(2)		—
Balance at December 31	$	29	$	29	$	77
Of December 31 balance, amounts related to tax positions that if recognized in future years would
decrease the effective tax rate(1)	$	(29)	$	(29)	$	(67)
increase the effective tax rate(1)	—		—		37

(1)    Includes temporary book and tax differences that are treated as flow-through for ratemaking purposes, as discussed above.

The California Franchise Tax Board is examining Sempra’s California unitary group for tax years 2018 and 2019. As of December 31, 2024, it is not reasonably possible this matter could be resolved within the next 12 months. We have included an increase in unrecognized income tax benefits in the reconciliation above.

In April 2023, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2023-15, which provides a safe harbor method of accounting for gas repairs expenditures. SDG&E and SoCalGas elected this change in tax accounting method in Sempra’s consolidated 2023 income tax return filing and recorded additional income tax benefits of $34 million and $97 million, respectively, in 2023. Additionally, SoCalGas updated its assessment of prior years’ unrecognized income tax benefits and recorded an income tax benefit of $43 million in 2023 for previously unrecognized income tax benefits pertaining to gas repairs expenditures. Sempra elected this change in tax accounting method in its consolidated 2023 income tax return filing.

Sempra, SDG&E, and SoCalGas record regulatory liabilities for benefits that will be flowed through to customers in the future.

It is reasonably possible that within the next 12 months, unrecognized income tax benefits could decrease due to the following:

POSSIBLE DECREASES IN UNRECOGNIZED INCOME TAX BENEFITS WITHIN 12 MONTHS
(Dollars in millions)
	December 31,
	2024		2023		2022
Sempra:
Potential resolution of audit issues with various U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. taxing authorities	$	15	$	242	$	8
SDG&E:
Potential resolution of audit issues with various U.S. federal, state and local taxing authorities	$	6	$	6	$	6
SoCalGas:
Potential resolution of audit issues with various U.S. federal, state and local taxing authorities	$	2	$	2	$	2

Amounts accrued for interest and penalties associated with unrecognized income tax benefits are included in Income Tax Expense (Benefit) on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Sempra accrued $15 million at both December 31, 2024 and 2023 on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, and negligible amounts in 2024, $2 million in 2023 and negligible amounts in 2022 on the Consolidated Statements of Operations for interest and penalties. SDG&E and SoCalGas each accrued negligible amounts for interest expense and penalties at December 31, 2024 and 2023 on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, and recorded negligible amounts for interest expense and penalties on the Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented.

INCOME TAX AUDITS

Sempra is subject to U.S. federal income tax as well as income tax of multiple state and non-U.S. jurisdictions. We remain subject to examination for U.S. federal tax years after 2020. We are subject to examination by major state tax jurisdictions for tax years after 2012. Certain major non-U.S. income tax returns for tax years 2013 through the present are open to examination.

SDG&E and SoCalGas are subject to U.S. federal income tax and state income tax. They remain subject to examination for U.S. federal tax years after 2020 and state tax years after 2012.

In addition, Sempra has filed protests to contest proposed state audit adjustments for tax years 2009 through 2012. The pre-2013 tax years for our major state tax jurisdictions are closed to new issues; therefore, no additional tax may be assessed by the taxing authorities for these tax years.

SI Partners has filed an administrative appeal to contest a tax assessment issued by the Servicio de Administración Tributaria for tax year 2016. In 2023, we increased unrecognized income tax benefits in the table above, and will have the opportunity to contest any unresolved issues through the Mexican courts.