Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 was (21.9)% and 119.3%, respectively, and includes a net tax benefit of $3 million from the resolution of tax matters partially offset by a charge from the filing of state income tax returns. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 also includes benefits of $5 million due to tax legislation in the U.K., a tax charge of $6 million on the pre-tax gain of $10 million from the sale of Tacit as the tax basis was lower than the book basis, a benefit 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 and nine months ended September 30, 2020 was 4.9% and (3.8)%, respectively, and includes a $3 million benefit, which is primarily due to regulations enacted into law during the quarter. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 also includes a $12 million charge for the surrender of company owned life insurance policies, a benefit of $2 million on the $198 million goodwill impairment charge as the majority of this charge was nondeductible, a benefit of $1 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 2016 except for a specific issue arising in earlier years, France is closed through 2019, 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.