Income Taxes and Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Taxes and Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes

Schedule of components of the (benefit from) provision for income taxes

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2023		2022		2021
	(In thousands)
Current (benefit) provision:
Federal	$	(7,484)	$	(1,283)	$	135,759
State		39,441		70,707		47,115
Foreign		8,405		(601)		5,855
Total current (benefit) provision		40,362		68,823		188,729
Deferred (benefit) provision:
Federal		(308,917)		638,077		538,979
State		(150,108)		93,755		87,319
Foreign		(45,006)		(20,965)		(34,809)
Increase (decrease) in valuation allowance		166,809		18,720		48,219
Total deferred (benefit) provision		(337,222)		729,587		639,708
Total (benefit) provision	$	(296,860)	$	798,410	$	828,437

Schedule of principal reasons for the difference between the effective income tax rate and the statutory federal tax rate

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2023	2022	2021
	% of pre-tax income/(loss)
Statutory rate	(21.0)	21.0	21.0
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	(3.6)	3.3	3.2
Rates different than statutory	(1.1)	(0.5)	(0.5)
Increase (decrease) in valuation allowance	8.6	0.6	1.4
Tax credits	(3.8)	(0.8)	(0.5)
Impairments	6.0	—	—
Other, net	(0.5)	0.3	0.1
Total (benefit) provision for income taxes	(15.4)	23.9	24.7

Schedule of deferred tax assets and liabilities

	As of December 31,
	2023		2022
	(In thousands)
Deferred tax assets:
NOL, interest, credit and other carryforwards	$	1,322,706	$	666,789
Accrued and prepaid expenses		966,445		759,981
Stock-based compensation		29,387		29,383
Unrealized (gains) losses on available for sale and other investments (1)		222,769		—
Discount on convertible notes and convertible note hedge transaction, net		46,636		64,644
Deferred revenue		10,748		5,681
Other		10,096		11,050
Total deferred tax assets		2,608,787		1,537,528
Valuation allowance		(492,340)		(306,703)
Deferred tax asset after valuation allowance		2,116,447		1,230,825
Deferred tax liabilities:
Depreciation		(1,961,227)		(1,784,018)
Unrealized (gains) losses on available for sale and other investments (1)		—		(241,297)
Regulatory authorizations and other intangible amortization		(3,960,608)		(3,491,625)
Bases differences in partnerships and cost method investments (2)		(1,179,418)		(1,041,790)
Other liabilities		(21,227)		(18,840)
Total deferred tax liabilities		(7,122,480)		(6,577,570)
Net deferred tax asset (liability) (3)	$	(5,006,033)	$	(5,346,745)

(1) Included in this line item are deferred taxes related to, among other things, changes in the probability weighted fair value of our option to purchase certain of T-Mobile’s 800 MHz spectrum licenses. See Note 6 for further information.

(2) Included in this line item are deferred taxes related to, among other things, our noncontrolling investments in Northstar Spectrum and SNR HoldCo, including deferred taxes created by the tax amortization of the Northstar Licenses and SNR Licenses. See Note 2 for further information.

Schedule of reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Unrecognized tax benefit	2023		2022		2021
	(In thousands)
Balance as of beginning of period	$	569,601	$	539,113	$	528,527
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		9,210		36,587		496
Additions based on tax positions related to prior years		41,522		16,369		12,200
Reductions based on tax positions related to prior years		(7,219)		(21,541)		(1,482)
Reductions based on tax positions related to settlements with taxing authorities		(3,219)		—		—
Reductions based on tax positions related to the lapse of the statute of limitations		(352)		(927)		(628)
Balance as of end of period	$	609,543	$	569,601	$	539,113