Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Provision for Income Taxes

Our “Provision for income taxes” consisted of the following (in millions):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Current:
Federal	$	414		$	389		$	268
State		61			79			72
Foreign		56			45			36
		531			513			376
Deferred:
Federal		(89	)		(82	)		48
State		(33	)		(14	)		17
Foreign		4			(53	)		2
		(118	)		(149	)		67
Provision for income taxes	$	413		$	364		$	443

U.S. Federal Statutory Income Tax Rate Reconciled to Effective Rate

The U.S. federal statutory income tax rate is reconciled to the effective income tax rate as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Income tax expense at U.S. federal statutory rate		35.00	%		35.00	%		35.00	%
Federal tax credits		(3.21	)		(11.74	)		(4.13	)
Taxing authority audit settlements and other tax adjustments		(1.59	)		(3.56	)		(0.02	)
Noncontrolling interests		(0.81	)		(2.28	)		(1.16	)
State and local income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit		1.77			9.81			3.85
Tax rate differential on foreign income		(0.46	)		1.63			(0.96	)
Tax impact of impairments		0.46			41.95			0.57
Tax impact of divestitures		(7.89	)		—			—
Other		0.34			2.94			0.80
Provision for income taxes		23.61	%		73.75	%		33.95	%

Income Before Income Taxes Showing by Source

For financial reporting purposes, income (loss) before income taxes by source was as follows (in millions):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014		2013			2012
Domestic	$	1,601	$	548		$	1,175
Foreign		150		(54	)		128
Income before income taxes	$	1,751	$	494		$	1,303

Components of Net Deferred Tax Assets (Liabilities)

The components of net deferred tax assets (liabilities) are as follows (in millions):

	December 31,
	2014			2013
Deferred tax assets:
Net operating loss, capital loss and tax credit carry-forwards	$	297		$	164
Miscellaneous and other reserves, net		380			356
Subtotal		677			520
Valuation allowance		(300	)		(149	)
Deferred tax liabilities:
Landfill and environmental remediation liabilities		(22	)		(30	)
Property and equipment		(598	)		(966	)
Goodwill and other intangibles		(1,095	)		(1,104	)
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	(1,338	)	$	(1,729	)

Reconciliation of Beginning and Ending Amount of Gross Unrecognized Tax Benefits, Including Accrued interest

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits, including accrued interest for 2014, 2013 and 2012 is as follows (in millions):

	2014			2013			2012
Balance at January 1	$	49		$	54		$	49
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		9			6			15
Additions based on tax positions of prior years		2			—			—
Additions due to acquisitions		—			—			—
Accrued interest		1			2			2
Reductions based on tax positions related to the current year		—			—			—
Reductions for tax positions of prior years		—			(7	)		(1	)
Settlements		(11	)		(1	)		(4	)
Lapse of statute of limitations		(8	)		(5	)		(7	)
Balance at December 31	$	42		$	49		$	54