Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Domestic and foreign income from continuing operations before income taxes

The following table summarizes the Company's (loss) income before income taxes for the periods indicated:

	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2020		2019		2018
Domestic	$	(5,961,269)	$	336,150	$	704,935
Foreign	667,438		630,956		472,488
Total	$	(5,293,831)	$	967,106	$	1,177,423

Income tax provision

The components of the Company's consolidated income tax (benefit) expense are summarized in the following table for the periods indicated:

	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2020		2019		2018
Current (benefit) provision:
Federal	$	(473,751)	$	(12,801)	$	247,755
State and local	30,236		15,246		39,328
Foreign	94,213		81,989		69,972
Total current (benefit) provision	(349,302)		84,434		357,055
Deferred (benefit) provision:
Federal	(914,613)		61,819		(828,023)
State and local	(264,409)		(31,086)		33,887
Foreign	(365,949)		(2,196)		(1,388)
Total deferred (benefit) provision	(1,544,971)		28,537		(795,524)
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	$	(1,894,273)	$	112,971	$	(438,469)

Reconciliation of the effective income tax rate

A reconciliation of the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate to the Company's consolidated effective income tax rate is as follows for the periods indicated:

	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
	2020	2019	2018
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	21.0%	21.0%	24.5%
State and local income tax rate, net of federal tax benefit	(0.5)	2.4	(0.1)
Foreign tax rate differential	1.0	(6.7)	(6.2)
Litigation settlements and accruals (see Note 14)	(6.2)	0.1	(6.3)
U.S. Tax reform	—	(3.6)	(52.0)
PharMEDium worthless stock deduction	12.4	—	—
Swiss Tax reform	6.8	—	—
CARES Act	1.2	—	—
Goodwill impairment (see Note 1)	—	—	1.7
Capital gain on distribution	—	—	3.6
Other	0.1	(1.5)	(2.4)
Effective income tax rate	35.8%	11.7%	(37.2)%

Significant components of deferred tax liabilities (assets)

Significant components of the Company's deferred tax liabilities (assets) are as follows:

	September 30,
(in thousands)	2020		2019
Inventories	$	1,309,815	$	1,293,075
Property and equipment	94,521		143,851
Goodwill and other intangible assets	613,123		709,015
Right-of-use assets (Note 12)	113,220		—
Other	1,888		1,892
Gross deferred tax liabilities	2,132,567		2,147,833
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	(263,171)		(318,868)
Allowance for doubtful accounts	(20,051)		(22,544)
Accrued expenses	(21,284)		(33,312)
Accrued litigation liability	(1,078,555)		—
Employee and retiree benefits	(13,891)		(12,420)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	(582,406)		—
Lease liabilities (Note 12)	(121,182)		—
Share-based compensation	(38,914)		(39,961)
Other	(79,916)		(60,215)
Gross deferred tax assets	(2,219,370)		(487,320)
Valuation allowance for deferred tax assets	411,648		199,682
Deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance	(1,807,722)		(287,638)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	324,845	$	1,860,195

Reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the periods indicated is as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2020		2019		2018
Unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of period	$	105,657	$	98,124	$	323,869
Additions of tax positions of the current year	385,797		18,819		2,804
Additions to tax positions of the prior years	5,599		751		558
Reductions of tax positions of the prior years	(6,480)		(10,317)		(224,878)
Settlements with taxing authorities	—		—		(1,847)
Expiration of statutes of limitations	(12,222)		(1,720)		(2,382)
Unrecognized tax benefits at end of period	$	478,351	$	105,657	$	98,124