Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company’s effective tax rates were 15.7% and 16.9% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, compared to 18.4% and 15.8% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively. The change in the rate was primarily due to changes in the geographic mix of earnings and the impact of discrete tax items.

On August 16, 2022, the U.S. government enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“Inflation Act”), which includes, among other provisions, changes to the U.S. corporate income tax system, including a 15% minimum tax based on “adjusted financial statement income,” and a one percent excise tax on net repurchases of stock for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022. While the Inflation Act has no immediate impact and is not expected to have a material adverse effect on ADM’s results of operations going forward, the Company will continue to evaluate its impact as further information becomes available.

The Company is subject to income taxation and routine examinations in many jurisdictions around the world and frequently faces challenges regarding the amount of taxes due.  These challenges include positions taken by the Company related to the timing, nature, and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions.  In its routine evaluations of the exposure associated with various tax filing positions, the Company recognizes a liability, when necessary, for estimated potential tax owed by the Company in accordance with applicable accounting standards. Resolution of the related tax positions, through negotiations with relevant tax authorities or through litigation, may take years to complete. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the timing for resolution of tax positions and the Company cannot predict or provide assurance as to the ultimate outcome of these ongoing or future examinations. However, the Company does not anticipate that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will increase or decrease significantly in the next twelve months. Given the long periods of time involved in resolving tax positions, the Company does not expect that the recognition of unrecognized tax benefits will have a material impact on the Company’s effective income tax rate in any given period.

The Company’s subsidiary in Argentina, ADM Agro SRL (formerly ADM Argentina SA and Alfred C. Toepfer Argentina SRL), received tax assessments challenging transfer prices used to price grain exports for the tax years 1999 through 2011 and 2014. As of September 30, 2022, these assessments totaled $6 million in tax and up to $29 million in interest (adjusted for variation in currency exchange rates). The Argentine tax authorities conducted a review of income and other taxes paid by large exporters and processors of cereals and other agricultural commodities resulting in allegations of income tax evasion. The Company strongly believes that it has complied with all Argentine tax laws. Currently the Company is under audit for fiscal years 2015 to 2017. While the statute of limitations has expired for tax years 2012 and 2013, the Company cannot rule out receiving additional assessments challenging transfer prices used to price grain exports for years subsequent to 2014, and estimates that these potential assessments could be approximately $78 million in tax and $49 million in interest (adjusted for variation in currency exchange rates as of September 30, 2022). The Company believes that it has appropriately evaluated the transactions underlying these assessments, and has concluded, based on Argentine tax law, that its tax position would be sustained, and accordingly, has not recorded a tax liability for these assessments. In accordance with the accounting requirements for uncertain tax positions, the Company has not recorded an uncertain tax liability for this assessment because it has concluded that it is more likely than not to prevail on the matter based upon its technical merits and because the taxing jurisdiction’s process does not provide a mechanism for settling at less than the full amount of the assessment. The Company intends to vigorously defend its position against the current assessments and any similar assessments that may be issued for years subsequent to 2014.

In 2014, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary in the Netherlands, ADM Europe B.V., received a tax assessment from the Netherlands tax authority challenging the transfer pricing aspects of a 2009 business reorganization, which involved two of its subsidiary companies in the Netherlands. As of September 30, 2022, this assessment was $80 million in tax and $28 million in interest (adjusted for variation in currency exchange rates). On April 23, 2020, the court issued an unfavorable ruling and in October 2020, assigned a third party expert to establish a valuation. During the second quarter of 2021, the third party expert issued a final valuation. On September 30, 2022, the court issued a ruling consistent with the valuation report, and the Dutch tax authorities have six weeks to file an appeal. Subsequent appeals may take an extended period of time and could result in financial impacts of up to the entire amount of the assessment. As of September 30, 2022, the Company has accrued its best estimate of what it believes will be the likely outcome of the litigation.