INCOME TAXES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

INCOME TAXES

International Paper made income tax payments, net of refunds, of $134 million and $285 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The Company currently estimates that, as a result of ongoing discussions, pending tax settlements and expirations of statutes of limitations, the amount of unrecognized tax benefits could be reduced by approximately $7 million during the next 12 months.

During the second quarter of 2024, the Company completed an internal legal entity restructuring for which a capital loss was recognized for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes. The Company intends to use this capital loss to offset capital gains, and, as such, recorded a deferred tax asset and a deferred tax benefit of approximately $338 million in the second quarter of 2024, which impacted the effective income tax rate for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2024. During the third quarter of 2024, an adjustment to the capital loss amount resulted in an additional deferred tax asset and deferred tax benefit recorded of $78 million.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has proposed a 15% global minimum tax applied on a country-by-country basis (the "Pillar Two rule"), and many countries, including countries in which we operate, have enacted or begun the process of enacting laws adopting the Pillar Two rule. The first component of the Pillar Two rule became effective as of January 1, 2024, and did not have a material impact on the Company’s effective tax rate. Following completion of the DS Smith acquisition on January 31, 2025, the evaluation of the impact of the second component of Pillar Two is ongoing but is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's effective tax rate for 2025.

The enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) in July 2025 introduced a wide range of tax policy changes. Key provisions include the extension of select elements of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, updates to the international tax framework, and the reinstatement of favorable treatment for certain business-related deductions. With staggered effective dates beginning in 2025 and extending through 2027, the Company is actively evaluating the OBBBA’s potential implications on its consolidated financial statements. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the impacts do not have a material effect on the tax rate.