Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Pre-tax Earnings from Continuing Operations

Earnings from continuing operations before provision for income taxes consist of the following:

Earnings from Continuing Operations before Provision for Income Taxes (in millions)	Year Ended September 30,
	2014		2013		2012
United States	$	2,924	$	3,040	$	2,984
International	590		479		486
Pre-tax earnings from continuing operations	$	3,514	$	3,519	$	3,470

Provision for Income Taxes from Continuing Operations

The provision for income taxes from continuing operations consists of the following:

Provision for Income Taxes from Continuing Operations (in millions)	Year Ended September 30,
	2014			2013		2012
Current provision for income taxes:
Federal	$	1,049		$	401	$	872
State and local	122			23		117
International	169			152		183
Total current provision for income taxes	1,340			576		1,172
Deferred provision for income taxes	(290		)	494		(87		)
Provision for income taxes	$	1,050		$	1,070	$	1,085

Effective Tax Rate

A reconciliation of the effective income tax rate on continuing operations to the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate is as follows:

	Year Ended September 30,
Effective Tax Rate	2014		2013		2012
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State and local taxes, net of federal benefit	1.9		2.2		2.2
Effect of international operations	(3.6	)	(2.6	)	(0.8	)
Qualified production activities deduction	(3.2	)	(2.1	)	(3.0	)
Change in valuation allowance	(0.3	)	(1.8	)	(1.4	)
All other, net	0.1		(0.3	)	(0.7	)
Effective tax rate, continuing operations	29.9	%	30.4	%	31.3	%

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effects of the items recorded as deferred tax assets and liabilities are:

Deferred Taxes (in millions)	September 30,
	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued liabilities	$	175		$	199
Postretirement and other employee benefits	391			294
Tax credit and loss carryforwards	356			274
All other	213			188
Total deferred tax assets	1,135			955
Valuation allowance	(308		)	(277		)
Total deferred tax assets, net	$	827		$	678
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, equipment and intangible assets	$	(498	)	$	(436	)
Unbilled revenue	(142		)	(133		)
Financing obligations	(121		)	(120		)
Film & TV production expenditures	(252		)	(535		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(1,013		)	(1,224		)
Deferred taxes, net	$	(186	)	$	(546	)

The net deferred tax assetsand deferred tax liabilities included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows:

Deferred Tax Assets / (Liabilities) (in millions)	September 30,
	2014			2013
Current deferred tax assets	$	8		$	58
Noncurrent deferred tax assets	105			45
Current deferred tax liabilities	(33		)	—
Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities	(266		)	(649		)
Deferred taxes, net	$	(186	)	$	(546	)

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, is as follows:

Unrecognized Tax Benefits (in millions)	Year Ended September 30,
	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of the period	$	159		$	207		$	212
Gross additions based on tax positions related to the current year	25			29			28
Gross additions for tax positions of prior years	10			5			24
Gross reductions for tax positions of prior years	(5		)	(50		)	(44		)
Settlements	—			(25		)	(2		)
Expiration of the statute of limitation	(4		)	(7		)	(11		)
Balance at end of the period	$	185		$	159		$	207