Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Feb. 27, 2020

Our income tax (provision) benefit consisted of the following:


	Quarter ended						Six months ended
	February 27, 2020		February 28, 2019		February 27, 2020		February 28, 2019

Income tax (provision) benefit, excluding items below	$	1	$	(216)	$	(30)	$	(594)
Utilization of and other changes in net deferred tax assets of MMJ, MMT, and MTTW	(22)		(78)		(46)		(130)
Repatriation tax, net of adjustments related to uncertain tax positions	—		14		—		(33)
	$	(21)	$	(280)	$	(76)	$	(757)

The decrease in our income tax provision in the second quarter and first six months of 2020 as compared to the corresponding periods of 2019 was due primarily to reductions in profit before tax and the foreign minimum tax.

As of February 27, 2020, gross unrecognized tax benefits were $383 million, substantially all of which would affect our effective tax rate in the future, if recognized. The amount accrued for interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions was not significant for any period presented.

We operate in a number of jurisdictions outside the United States, including Singapore, where we have tax incentive arrangements, which expire in whole or in part at various dates through 2034, that are conditional, in part, upon meeting certain business operations and employment thresholds. The effect of tax incentive arrangements were not significant to our tax provision for the second quarter or first six months of 2020. These arrangements reduced our tax provision by $244 million (benefiting our diluted earnings per share by $0.21) and $671 million ($0.58 per diluted share) for the second quarter and first six months of 2019, respectively.