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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Dec. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
On December 22, 2017, the U.S. enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”), which significantly changed U.S. tax law. The Act lowered the Company’s U.S. statutory federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018, while also imposing a deemed repatriation tax on deferred foreign income. The Act also created a new minimum tax on certain future foreign earnings. During the first quarter of 2018, the Company recognized a provision for income taxes of $7.0 billion, of which $2.6 billion was considered a provisional estimate under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118. The Company’s provisional estimate of $2.6 billion included $1.8 billion related to the impact of remeasuring the Company’s deferred tax balances to reflect the new tax rate and approximately $800 million, net, associated with the deemed repatriation tax.
Deferred Tax Balances
The Company remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse. In addition, the Company elected to record certain deferred tax assets and liabilities related to the minimum tax on certain future foreign earnings. The provisional estimate of $1.8 billion incorporates assumptions made based upon the best available interpretation of the Act and may change as the Company receives additional clarification and implementation guidance.
Deemed Repatriation Tax
As of September 30, 2017, the Company had a U.S. deferred tax liability of $36.4 billion for deferred foreign income. As a result of the deemed repatriation tax, which is based on the Company’s total post-1986 deferred foreign income, the Company replaced $36.1 billion of its U.S. deferred tax liability with a provisional tax payable of $38.0 billion. The estimate of the deemed repatriation tax is based, in part, on the amount of cash and other specified assets anticipated to be held by the Company’s foreign subsidiaries as of September 29, 2018. As a result, the final amount may change as the amounts are finalized. The Company plans to pay the tax payable in installments in accordance with the Act.
Unrecognized Tax Benefits
As of December 30, 2017, the Company recorded gross unrecognized tax benefits of $9.0 billion. These gross unrecognized tax benefits have been offset by certain tax deposits and a $1.1 billion reduction for the estimated impact of the deemed repatriation tax, with the net unrecognized tax benefits classified as other non-current liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Upon recognition, $7.7 billion of the unrecognized tax benefits would affect the Company’s effective tax rate. The Company had $1.4 billion of gross interest and penalties accrued as of December 30, 2017, which is also classified as other non-current liabilities in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The Company believes that an adequate provision has been made for any adjustments that may result from tax examinations. However, the outcome of tax audits cannot be predicted with certainty. If any issues addressed in the Company’s tax audits are resolved in a manner inconsistent with its expectations, the Company could be required to adjust its provision for income taxes in the period such resolution occurs. Although timing of the resolution and/or closure of audits is not certain, the Company believes it is reasonably possible that its gross unrecognized tax benefits could decrease (whether by payment, release or a combination of both) in the next 12 months by as much as $2.9 billion.
European Commission State Aid Decision
On August 30, 2016, the European Commission announced its decision that Ireland granted state aid to the Company by providing tax opinions in 1991 and 2007 concerning the tax allocation of profits of the Irish branches of two subsidiaries of the Company (the “State Aid Decision”). The State Aid Decision orders Ireland to calculate and recover additional taxes from the Company for the period June 2003 through December 2014. Irish legislative changes, effective as of January 2015, eliminated the application of the tax opinions from that date forward. The Company believes the State Aid Decision to be without merit and appealed to the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Ireland has also appealed the State Aid Decision. Although Ireland is still computing the recovery amount, the Company expects the amount to be in line with the European Commission’s announced recovery amount of €13 billion, plus interest of €1 billion. Once the recovery amount is finalized by Ireland, the Company anticipates funding it by placing amounts into escrow in 2018, pending conclusion of all appeals. The Company believes that any incremental Irish corporate income taxes potentially due related to the State Aid Decision would be creditable against U.S. taxes.