Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was a benefit of 33.6% and includes benefits of $3 million from an affiliate reorganization and $2 million from the vesting of restricted stock, partially offset by a charge of $1 million for the write-off of deferred tax assets associated with the expiration of out-of-the-money stock options.

The effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was a benefit of 4.4% and includes a benefit of $2 million on the $198 million goodwill impairment charge as the majority of this charge is nondeductible, a benefit of $2 million from the resolution of certain tax examinations and a charge of $3 million for the write-off of deferred tax assets associated with the expiration of out-of-the-money stock options and the vesting of restricted stock.

As is the case with other large corporations, our tax returns are examined by tax authorities in the U.S. and other global taxing jurisdictions in which we have operations. As a result, it is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits will decrease in the next 12 months, and this decrease could be up to 10% of our unrecognized tax benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service examinations of our consolidated U.S. income tax returns for tax years prior to 2017 are closed to audit; however, various post-2014 U.S. state and local tax returns are still subject to examination, with some states in appeals from 2011. For our significant non-U.S. jurisdictions, Canada is closed to examination through 2014, France is closed through 2013, Germany is closed through 2016 and the U.K. is closed through 2018. We also have other less significant tax filings currently subject to examination.