Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Jan. 28, 2017

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

U.S. And Foreign Components Of Earnings Before Income Taxes

U.S. and foreign components of earnings before income taxes were as follows:

Fiscal year	2016			2015			2014
U.S.		$687			$996			$1,196
Foreign	(3		)	(20		)	(11		)
Earnings before income taxes		$684			$976			$1,185

Components Of Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense consists of the following:

Fiscal year	2016			2015			2014
Current income taxes:
Federal		$290			$202			$397
State and local	54			32			61
Foreign	1			—			—
Total current income tax expense	345			234			458
Deferred income taxes:
Federal	(17		)	123			9
State and local	(5		)	23			2
Foreign	7			(4		)	(4		)
Total deferred income tax (benefit) expense	(15		)	142			7
Total income tax expense		$330			$376			$465

Reconciliation Of Statutory To Effective Tax Rate

A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the effective tax rate on earnings before income taxes is as follows:

Fiscal year	2016		2015		2014
Statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Goodwill impairment	10.1	%	—		—
State and local income taxes, net of federal income taxes	5.1	%	4.1	%	3.8	%
Non-deductible acquisition-related items	0.6	%	0.4	%	0.9	%
Federal credits	(0.6	%)	(0.6	%)	(0.2	%)
Other, net	(2.0	%)	(0.3	%)	(0.3	%)
Effective tax rate	48.2	%	38.6	%	39.2	%

Components Of Deferred Tax Assets And Liabilities

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

	January 28, 2017			January 30, 2016
Compensation and benefits accruals		$209			$194
Allowance for sales returns	76			73
Credit card receivable transaction	13			28
Accrued expenses	39			48
Merchandise inventories	43			35
Gift cards	33			29
Nordstrom Notes	—			24
Federal benefit of state taxes	18			4
Net operating losses	12			7
Gain on sale of interest rate swap	4			9
Other	18			7
Total deferred tax assets	465			458
Valuation allowance	(37		)	(1		)
Total net deferred tax assets	428			457
Land, property and equipment basis and depreciation differences	(258		)	(301		)
Debt exchange premium	(23		)	(23		)
Total deferred tax liabilities	(281		)	(324		)
Net deferred tax assets		$147			$133

Reconciliation Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

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

Fiscal year	2016			2015			2014
Unrecognized tax benefit at beginning of year		$19			$15			$14
Gross increase to tax positions in prior periods	16			6			9
Gross decrease to tax positions in prior periods	—			(2		)	(2		)
Gross increase to tax positions in current period	2			2			2
Lapses in statute	(5		)	(2		)	(3		)
Settlements	—			—			(5		)
Unrecognized tax benefit at end of year		$32			$19			$15