Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income taxes

	For the three months ended June 30					For the six months ended June 30
(in millions of Canadian dollars)	2020		2019			2020		2019
Current income tax expense	$	140	$	142		$	286	$	243
Deferred income tax expense (recovery)	49		(18		)	88		20
Income tax expense	$	189	$	124		$	374	$	263

The effective tax rates for the three and six months ended June 30, 2020 were 22.98% and 26.38%, respectively, compared to 14.63% and 18.50%, respectively for the same periods of 2019.

For the three months ended June 30, 2020, the effective tax rate was 25.00%, excluding the discrete item of the foreign exchange ("FX") gain of $86 million on debt and lease liabilities.

For the three months ended June 30, 2019, the effective tax rate was 25.75%, excluding the discrete items of the FX gain of $37 million on debt and lease liabilities and an $88 million deferred income tax recovery from the revaluation of deferred income tax balances as at January 1, 2019 on the enactment of Alberta provincial corporate income tax rate decrease.

For the six months ended June 30, 2020, the effective tax rate was 25.00%, excluding the discrete item of the FX loss of $129 million on debt and lease liabilities.

For the six months ended June 30, 2019, the effective tax rate was 25.75%, excluding the discrete items of the FX gain of $82 million on debt and lease liabilities and the aforementioned deferred tax recovery of $88 million on the Alberta provincial corporate income tax rate decrease.