INCOME TAXES (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

4.     INCOME TAXES

The company’s effective tax rate was 13.0 percent and 14.8 percent for the three months ended January 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The income tax expense was $25 million and $21 million for the three months ended January 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The income tax provision for the three months ended January 31, 2017 included net discrete tax benefits of $2 million.  The net discrete tax benefit for the three months ended January 31, 2017, included $7 million of tax benefit for the settlement of an audit in Italy, $11 million of tax expense related to the employee pension settlement gain and $6 million of other discrete tax benefit items.

The income tax provision for the three months ended January 31, 2016 included net discrete tax benefit of $6 million. The net discrete tax benefit for the three months ended January 31, 2016 included $5 million of tax benefit for the extension, which occurred in the first quarter of 2016, of the U.S. research and development tax credit attributable to the company's 2015 fiscal year, and $6 million of tax expense related to the curtailment gain recognized with respect to the U.S. retirement plan and Supplemental Benefits Plan. The net discrete tax benefit for the three months ended January 31, 2016 also included $9 million of tax benefit related primarily to return to provision adjustments and $2 million of other discrete tax expense items.

In the U.S., tax years remain open back to the year 2012 for federal income tax purposes and the year 2000 for significant states. There were no substantial changes from our 2016 Annual Report on Form 10-K to the status of these open tax years in the first three months of fiscal 2017.

In other major jurisdictions where the company conducts business, the tax years generally remain open back to the year 2001.  During the first quarter of 2017, the company settled its ongoing tax audit in Italy for the years 2011-2013 resulting in a net tax expense of $7 million. The settlement resulted in the recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits of approximately $14 million.

With these jurisdictions and the U.S., it is reasonably possible that there could be significant changes to our unrecognized tax benefits in the next twelve months due to either the expiration of a statute of limitation or a tax audit settlement which will be partially offset by an anticipated tax liability related to unremitted foreign earnings, where applicable.  Given the number of years and numerous matters that remain subject to examination in various tax jurisdictions, management is unable to estimate the range of possible changes to the balance of our unrecognized tax benefits.

On July 27, 2015, the U.S. Tax Court issued an opinion in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner related to the treatment of stock-based compensation expense in an intercompany cost-sharing arrangement. A final decision was entered by the U.S. Tax Court on December 1, 2015. The IRS is appealing the decision and filed its arguments opposing the Tax Court decision in June 2016. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the status of the current regulations, questions related to the scope of potential benefits or obligations, and the risk of the Tax Court’s decision being overturned upon appeal, we concluded that no adjustment to our condensed consolidated financial statements is appropriate at this time.