Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

INCOME TAXES The provision for income taxes represents federal, state and local, and foreign taxes on earnings from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in loss of investee companies. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $101 million and $264 million, reflecting effective income tax rates of 31.3% and 20.1%, respectively. Included in the provision for income taxes for the third quarter of 2022 is a net discrete tax provision of $9 million, which primarily reflects discrete tax provisions realized in connection with the filing of our tax returns in international jurisdictions and from the transfer of subsidiaries in connection with a reorganization of our international operations. These items, together with a net tax benefit of $29 million on other items identified as affecting the comparability of our results during the period (which include charges for restructuring and other corporate matters, and a gain on a disposition) increased our effective income tax rate by 5.0 percentage points. The tax provision for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 included a net discrete tax benefit of $72 million primarily resulting from the transfer of intangible assets between our subsidiaries in connection with a reorganization of our international operations. This item, together with a net tax benefit of $77 million on other items identified as affecting the comparability of our results during the nine-month period (which include charges for restructuring and other corporate matters, a loss on

extinguishment of debt, and gains on dispositions) decreased our effective income tax rate by 4.8 percentage points.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, we recorded a provision for income taxes of $120 million and $312 million, reflecting effective income tax rates of 19.5% and 11.2%, respectively. Included in the provision for income taxes for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 are discrete tax benefits of $290 million primarily consisting of a benefit of $260 million to remeasure our UK net deferred income tax asset as a result of the enactment during the second quarter of 2021 of an increase in the UK corporate income tax rate from 19% to 25% beginning April 1, 2023, as well as a net tax benefit in connection with the settlement of income tax audits. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, these discrete tax benefits, together with a net tax benefit of $14 million on other items identified as affecting the comparability of our results during the period (which include a loss on extinguishment of debt, restructuring and pension settlement charges and net gains from dispositions and investments) reduced our effective income tax rate by 10.5 percentage points.

The Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and various state and local and foreign jurisdictions. For periods prior to the merger of Viacom Inc. (“Viacom”) with and into CBS Corporation (“CBS”) (the “Merger”), Viacom and CBS filed separate tax returns. For CBS, we are currently under examination by the IRS for the 2017 and 2018 tax years. For Viacom, we are currently under examination by the IRS for the 2016 through 2019 tax years. For tax returns filed as a merged company, we are currently under examination by the IRS for the 2019 tax year. Various tax years are also currently under examination by state and local and foreign tax authorities. With respect to open tax years in all jurisdictions, we currently do not believe that it is reasonably possible that the reserve for uncertain tax positions will significantly change within the next 12 months; however, it is difficult to predict the final outcome or timing of resolution of any particular tax matter and events could cause our current expectation to change in the future.