Income Taxes

We were included in the consolidated federal income tax returns and the combined state income tax returns of QCII until CenturyLink's April 1, 2011 acquisition of QCII and the consolidated federal income tax returns and certain combined state income tax returns of CenturyLink subsequent to the acquisition. Both CenturyLink and QCII treat our consolidated results as if we were a separate taxpayer. The policy requires us to settle our tax liabilities through a change in our general intercompany obligation based upon our separate return taxable income, which is reflected in advances to affiliates on our consolidated balance sheets and the changes in advances to affiliates are reflected as investing activities on our consolidated statements of cash flows. Because we are included in the consolidated federal income tax returns and the combined state income tax returns of CenturyLink (and previously with QCII), any tax audits involving CenturyLink or QCII will also involve us. The IRS previously examined all of QCII's federal income tax returns prior to 2008 because they were included in its coordinated industry case program and now examines all of QCII's federal income tax returns as included in the consolidated federal return of the ultimate parent company, CenturyLink.

In years prior to 2011, QCII filed amended federal income tax returns for 2002-2007 to make protective claims with respect to items reserved in our audit settlements and to correct items not addressed in prior audits. The examination of those amended federal income tax returns by the IRS was completed in 2012. In 2012, QCII filed an amended 2008 federal income tax return primarily to report the carryforward impact of prior year settlements and in 2013, QCII filed an amended return for 2009. Such amended filings are subject to adjustment by the IRS.

CenturyLink also files combined income tax returns in many states, and these combined returns remain open for adjustments to its federal income tax returns. In addition, certain combined state income tax returns filed by CenturyLink and QCII since 1999 are still open for state specific adjustments.

As of December 31, 2014 and 2013, we had no liability for interest related to uncertain tax positions. As of December 31, 2012, we had a recorded liability for interest related to uncertain tax positions in the amounts of $5 million. We did not record a liability for interest related to uncertain tax positions for the year ended December 31, 2014. We made no accrual for penalties related to income tax positions.

Income Tax Expense

The components of the income tax expense from continuing operations are as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013		2012
	(Dollars in millions)
Income tax expense:
Current tax provision:
Federal and foreign	$	738		653		638
State and local	129			101		105
Total current tax provision	867			754		743
Deferred tax expense:
Federal and foreign	(209		)	(125	)	(175	)
State and local	(19		)	(27	)	(26	)
Total deferred tax expense	(228		)	(152	)	(201	)
Income tax expense	$	639		602		542

The effective income tax rate for continuing operations differs from the statutory tax rate as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013		2012
	(in percent)
Effective income tax rate:
Federal statutory income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes-net of federal effect	4.0	%	3.1	%	3.7	%
Other	0.7	%	0.3	%	0.3	%
Effective income tax rate	39.7	%	38.4	%	39.0	%

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:



	As of December 31,
	2014			2013
	(Dollars in millions)
Deferred tax assets and liabilities:
Deferred tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	$	(1,380	)	(1,281	)
Intangibles assets	(1,449		)	(1,772	)
Receivable from an affiliate due to pension plan participation	(500		)	(462	)
Other	(52		)	(52	)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(3,381		)	(3,567	)
Deferred tax assets:
Payable to affiliate due to post-retirement benefit plan participation	998			983
Debt premiums	36			55
Other	275			229
Total deferred tax assets	1,309			1,267
Valuation allowance on deferred tax assets	(12		)	(12	)
Net deferred tax assets	1,297			1,255
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(2,084	)	(2,312	)

At December 31, 2014, we have established a valuation allowance of $12 million as it is not more likely than not that this amount of deferred tax assets will be realized.

Other Income Tax Information

We paid $861 million, $750 million and $607 million to QSC related to income taxes in the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.