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Income Taxes (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)
12 Months Ended
Apr. 03, 2015
Mar. 28, 2014
Mar. 29, 2013
Income Taxes [Line Items]      
Pretax income (loss) from international operations $ 617,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign $ 612,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign $ 652,000,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesForeign
Increase in valuation allowance 4,000,000us-gaap_ValuationAllowanceDeferredTaxAssetChangeInAmount    
Cumulative unremitted foreign earnings 3,600,000,000us-gaap_UndistributedEarningsOfForeignSubsidiaries    
Unrecognized deferred tax liability 1,000,000,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilityNotRecognizedAmountOfUnrecognizedDeferredTaxLiabilityUndistributedEarningsOfForeignSubsidiaries    
Change in gross unrecognized tax benefit (89,000,000)us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsPeriodIncreaseDecrease (130,000,000)us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsPeriodIncreaseDecrease (207,000,000)us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsPeriodIncreaseDecrease
Unrecognized tax benefits which would affect the effective income tax rate 200,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactEffectiveTaxRate    
Unrecognized tax benefits which would affect cumulative translation adjustments 7,000,000symc_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsThatWouldImpactCumulativeTranslationAdjustments    
Accrued penalties and interest 18,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued    
Interest benefit included in the provision for income taxes 12,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsInterestOnIncomeTaxesExpense    
Interest on income taxes accrued 6,000,000symc_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsInterestonIncomeTaxesExpenseOffsetAmount    
Tax benefit as a result of domestic tax settlement 59,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxSettlementsDomestic   3,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxSettlementsDomestic
Tax benefit as a result of state tax settlement     7,000,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationTaxSettlementsStateAndLocal
Decrease of unrecognized tax benefits as a result of tax settlement 150,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsDecreasesResultingFromSettlementsWithTaxingAuthorities 122,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsDecreasesResultingFromSettlementsWithTaxingAuthorities 114,000,000us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsDecreasesResultingFromSettlementsWithTaxingAuthorities
Tax settlement related to transfer pricing matters 158,000,000symc_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesUndistributedForeignEarningsTransferPricingSettlement    
Payment of final tax and interest liability on settlement 155,000,000symc_IncomeTaxExaminationCumulativePaymentProceedAmountfromSettlementwithTaxingAuthority    
Potential affect on income tax provision 44,000,000us-gaap_DecreaseInUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIsReasonablyPossible    
State      
Income Taxes [Line Items]      
Operating loss carryforwards 161,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= us-gaap_StateAndLocalJurisdictionMember
   
Tax credit carryforward 39,000,000us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardAmount
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= us-gaap_StateAndLocalJurisdictionMember
   
Foreign      
Income Taxes [Line Items]      
Operating loss carryforwards 183,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember
   
Domestic | U.S. Federal      
Income Taxes [Line Items]      
Operating loss carryforwards $ 60,000,000us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis
= us-gaap_DomesticCountryMember
/ us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityNameAxis
= us-gaap_InternalRevenueServiceIRSMember