Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

NOTE 8: INCOME TAXES

Each interim period is considered an integral part of the annual period; accordingly, we measure our income tax expense using an estimated annual effective tax rate. An enterprise is required, at the end of each interim reporting period, to make its best estimate of the annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year and use that rate to provide for income taxes on a current year-to-date basis, as adjusted for discrete taxable events that occur during the interim period.

On March 27, 2020, the U.S. government enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"). The CARES Act made tax law changes to provide financial relief to companies as a result of the business impacts of COVID-19. Key income tax provisions of the CARES Act include changes in net operating losses (“NOL”) carryback and carryforward rules, increase of the net interest expense deduction limit, and immediate write-off of qualified improvement property. The CARES Act allowed the Company to carryback our U.S. federal NOLs incurred in 2020, generating an expected U.S. federal tax benefit of $76 million, of which $64 million was refunded during the three months ended June 30, 2022. The remaining refund of $12 million is included in income taxes receivable on our unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2022 and is expected to be received during the second half of 2022. In addition, $25 million of this refund received was recorded to long-term taxes payable within other long-term liabilities on our unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2022, which reflects future transition tax payments related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Tax Act”).

In addition, certain governments have passed legislation to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic through loans, wage subsidies, wage tax relief or other financial aid. Some of these governments have extended or are considering extending these programs. We have participated in several of these programs, including the CARES Act in the U.S., the United Kingdom's job retention scheme, as well as programs in other jurisdictions. In addition, in certain countries, such as within the European Union, Singapore, Australia, and other jurisdictions, we are also participating in programs where government assistance is in the form of wage subsidies and reductions in wage-related employer taxes paid by us. We recognize these government assistance benefits when there is a reasonable assurance of compliance with the conditions associated with the assistance and the amount is received. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, we recognized non-income tax related government assistance benefits of $11 million and $12 million, respectively, while during the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, we recognized non-income tax related government assistance benefits of $2 million and $5 million, respectively. These amounts are not income tax related and were recorded as a reduction of personnel and overhead costs in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations.

We recorded total income tax provisions of $22 million and $24 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, respectively, and total income tax benefits of $6 million and $21 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, respectively. The change in our income tax provisions during the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, when compared to the same period in 2021, was primarily due to an increase in pretax income recognized during both the three and six months ended June 30, 2022.

Our policy is to recognize accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits and income tax liabilities as part of our income tax expense. As of June 30, 2022, we had an accrued interest liability of $41 million and no penalties have been accrued.

By virtue of consolidated income tax returns previously filed with Expedia, we are currently under an IRS audit for the 2009, 2010 and short-period 2011 tax years. We are separately under examination by the IRS for the short-period 2011, 2012 through 2016, and 2018 tax years, and have various ongoing audits for foreign and state income tax returns. These audits include questioning the timing and amount of income and deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. These examinations may lead to proposed or ordinary course adjustments to our taxes. We are no longer subject to tax examinations by tax authorities for years prior to 2009. As of June 30, 2022, no material assessments have resulted, except as noted below regarding our 2009, 2010, and 2011 IRS audit with Expedia, our 2012 through 2016 standalone IRS audit, and our 2012 through 2016 HM Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) audit.

In January 2017 and April 2019, as part of the IRS audit of Expedia, we received Notices of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS for the 2009, 2010, and 2011 tax years. Subsequently, in September 2019, as part of our standalone audit, we received Notices of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS for the 2012 and 2013 tax years; and in August 2020, we received Notices of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 tax years. These proposed adjustments are related to certain transfer pricing arrangements with our foreign subsidiaries, and would result in an increase to our worldwide income tax expense in an estimated range of $115 million to $125 million at the close of the audit if the IRS prevails, which includes $20 million to $30 million related to the 2009 through 2011 pre Spin-Off tax years. The estimated range takes into consideration competent authority relief and transition tax regulations, and is exclusive of deferred tax consequences and interest expense, which would be significant. We disagree with the proposed adjustments and we intend to defend our position through applicable administrative and, if necessary, judicial remedies. Our policy is to review and update tax reserves as facts and circumstances change. Based on our interpretation of the regulations and available case law, we believe the position we have taken with regard to transfer pricing with our foreign subsidiaries is sustainable. In addition to the risk of additional tax for 2009 through 2016 transactions, if the IRS were to seek transfer pricing adjustments of a similar nature for transactions in subsequent years, we would be subject to significant additional tax liabilities. We have requested competent authority assistance under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (“MAP”) for tax years 2009 through 2016. We expect the competent authorities to present a resolution for the 2009 through 2013 tax years in the near future. Upon receipt, we will assess the resolution provided by the competent authorities as well as its impact on our existing income tax reserves for all open subsequent years.

In January 2021, we received from HMRC an issue closure notice relating to adjustments for 2012 through 2016 tax years. These proposed adjustments are related to certain transfer pricing arrangements with our foreign subsidiaries and would result in an increase to our worldwide income tax expense in an estimated range of $40 million to $50 million, exclusive of interest expense, at the close of the audit if HMRC prevails. We disagree with the proposed adjustments and we intend to defend our position through applicable administrative and, if necessary, judicial remedies. Our policy is to review and update tax reserves as facts and circumstances change. Based on our interpretation of the regulations and available case law, we believe the position we have taken with regard to transfer pricing with our foreign subsidiaries is sustainable.