Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Earnings Before Income Taxes and Provision for Income Taxes

Earnings before income taxes and provision (benefit) for income taxes consisted of the following for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016:

(in millions)	2018			2017			2016
Earnings (loss) before income taxes:
United States	$	9,441		$	9,809		$	21,867
Outside United States	(100		)	19			(15		)
Total	$	9,341		$	9,828		$	21,852
Provision (benefit) for income taxes:
Current:
Federal	$	1,911		$	2,346		$	4,093
State and local	519			366			390
Outside United States	1			15			6
	2,431			2,727			4,489
Deferred:
Federal	(18		)	(3,213		)	3,102
State and local	(42		)	86			20
Outside United States	3			1			(3		)
	(57		)	(3,126		)	3,119
Total provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	2,374		$	(399	)	$	7,608

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Unrecognized Tax Benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 was as follows:

(in millions)	2018			2017			2016
Balance at beginning of year	$	66		$	169		$	158
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year	—			—			15
Additions for tax positions of prior years	22			129			29
Reductions for tax positions due to lapse of statutes of limitations	—			(4		)	(4		)
Reductions for tax positions of prior years	(1		)	(208		)	(28		)
Settlements	(2		)	(20		)	(1		)
Balance at end of year	$	85		$	66		$	169

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits and Consolidated Liability for Tax Contingencies

Unrecognized tax benefits and Altria’s consolidated liability for tax contingencies at December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:

(in millions)	2018			2017
Unrecognized tax benefits	$	85		$	66
Accrued interest and penalties	13			9
Tax credits and other indirect benefits	(1		)	(1		)
Liability for tax contingencies	$	97		$	74

Reconciliation of Effective Tax Rate and U.S. Federal Statutory Rate

The effective income tax rate on pre-tax earnings differed from the U.S. federal statutory rate for the following reasons for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016:

	2018		2017		2016
U.S. federal statutory rate	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) resulting from:
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	4.0		3.5		1.2
Re-measurement of net deferred tax liabilities	—		(31.2	)	—
Tax basis in foreign investments	1.5		(7.8	)	—
Deemed repatriation tax	0.1		4.2		—
Uncertain tax positions	0.1		(0.9	)	—
Investment in AB InBev/SABMiller	(1.1	)	(5.9	)	(0.6	)
Domestic manufacturing deduction	—		(1.8	)	(0.8	)
Other	(0.2	)	0.8		—
Effective tax rate	25.4	%	(4.1	)%	34.8	%

Schedule of Deferred Income Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effects of temporary differences that gave rise to deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following at December 31, 2018 and 2017:

(in millions)	2018			2017
Deferred income tax assets:
Accrued postretirement and postemployment benefits	$	500		$	539
Settlement charges	864			614
Accrued pension costs	155			136
Net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards	57			18
Total deferred income tax assets	1,576			1,307
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Property, plant and equipment	(251		)	(261		)
Intangible assets	(2,689		)	(2,674		)
Investment in AB InBev	(3,038		)	(2,859		)
Finance assets, net	(313		)	(404		)
Other	(115		)	(121		)
Total deferred income tax liabilities	(6,406		)	(6,319		)
Valuation allowances	(71		)	—
Net deferred income tax liabilities	$	(4,901	)	$	(5,012	)