Taxes on Income (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income before taxes domestic and foreign operations

Income before taxes on income resulted from domestic and foreign operations is as follows:

(in millions)	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013		2012
Domestic operations	$	(423	)	$	821	$	800
Foreign operations	477			478		289
Total continuing income before taxes	$	54		$	1,299	$	1,089

Provision/(benefit) for taxes on income

The provision/(benefit) for taxes on income consists of the following:

(in millions)	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Federal:
Current	$	285		$	194		$	181
Deferred	(213		)	51			73
Total federal	72			245			254
Foreign:
Current	135			152			91
Deferred	1			(19		)	(9		)
Total foreign	136			133			82
State and local:
Current	62			37			38
Deferred	(25		)	10			14
Total state and local	37			47			52
Total provision for taxes for continuing operations	245			425			388
Provision for discontinued operations	140			299			27
Total provision for taxes	$	385		$	724		$	415

Reconciliation of federal statutory income tax rate

A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to our effective income tax rate for financial reporting purposes is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Legal and regulatory settlements	524.1		—		—
State and local income taxes	64.2		2.8		3.5
Foreign operations	(79.6	)	(3.9	)	(2.7	)
S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC joint venture	(60.2	)	(2.0	)	(1.1	)
Tax credits and incentives	(91.5	)	(2.1	)	(2.4	)
Other, net	61.7		2.9		3.3
Effective income tax rate for continuing operations	453.7	%	32.7	%	35.6	%

Differences between the accounting for income and expenses for financial reporting and income tax

The principal temporary differences between the accounting for income and expenses for financial reporting and income tax purposes are as follows:

(in millions)	December 31,
	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Legal and regulatory settlements	$	305		$	6
Employee compensation	98			72
Accrued expenses	107			136
Postretirement benefits	140			32
Unearned revenue	24			55
Allowance for doubtful accounts	12			15
Loss carryforwards	29			28
Other	12			10
Total deferred tax assets	727			354
Deferred tax liabilities:
Goodwill and intangible assets 1	(377		)	(379		)
Fixed assets	(11		)	(55		)
Other	—			—
Total deferred tax liabilities	(388		)	(434		)
Net deferred income tax asset (liability) before valuation allowance	339			(80		)
Valuation allowance	(12		)	(5		)
Net deferred income tax asset (liability)	$	327		$	(85	)
Reported as:
Current deferred tax assets	$	363		$	108
Current deferred tax liabilities	(2		)	(10		)
Non-current deferred tax assets	22			23
Non-current deferred tax liabilities	(56		)	(206		)
Net deferred income tax asset (liability)	$	327		$	(85	)

¹  See Note 2 – Acquisitions andDivestitures for further discussion regarding the impact related to the S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC.

Reconciliation of beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

(in millions)	Years ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of year	$	82		$	74		$	58
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	30			27			14
Additions for tax positions of prior years	33			10			3
Reduction for tax positions of prior years	(11		)	(9		)	(1		)
Reduction for settlements	(16		)	(20		)	—
Balance at end of year	$	118		$	82		$	74