Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Schedule of New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles

The following table provides a description of issued accounting guidance applicable to, but not yet adopted by, Altria:

Standards	Description	Effective Date for Public Entity	Effect on Financial Statements
ASU Nos. 2016-02; 2018-01; 2018-10; 2018-11; 2018-20 Leases (Topic 842)	The guidance requires entities to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclose key information about leasing arrangements.	The guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted.	As a lessor, PMCC maintains a portfolio of finance assets, substantially all of which are leveraged leases, the accounting of which will be unchanged under the new guidance and is not expected to change unless there is a contract modification to an existing lease. As lessees, Altria and its subsidiaries’ various leases under existing guidance are classified as operating leases that are not recorded on Altria’s consolidated balance sheets but are recorded in Altria’s consolidated statements of earnings as expense is incurred. Altria plans to apply the new guidance retrospectively at the beginning of the period of adoption and will record substantially all leases on its consolidated balance sheets as right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. Altria does not expect its adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on Altria’s consolidated financial statements. The adoption of this guidance will result in expanded footnote disclosures.
ASU Nos. 2016-13 and 2018-19 Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments(Topic 326)	The guidance replaces the current incurred loss impairment methodology for recognizing credit losses for financial assets with a methodology that reflects the entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information for estimating credit losses.	The guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted only as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that reporting period.	The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on Altria’s consolidated financial statements.
ASU No. 2018-15 Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (Subtopic 350-40)	The guidance aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license).	The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period.	Altria is in the process of evaluating the impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.