Income Taxes

The following table summarizes our effective tax rate for income (loss) from continuing operations for the periods presented:



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
(In millions, except percentages)	December 29, 2017			December 30, 2016			December 29, 2017			December 30, 2016
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	$	705		$	(61	)	$	502		$	(14	)
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	(606	)	$	(5	)	$	(683	)	$	45
Effective tax rate	(86		)%	8		%	(136		)%	(321		)%

Our effective tax rate for income from continuing operations for the three and nine months ended December 29, 2017 differs from the federal statutory income tax rate primarily due to accounting for the effects of enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R.1) or the “Act” on December 22, 2017, the benefits of lower-taxed international earnings, the research and development tax credit, and excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, partially offset by various permanent differences.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2018, we revised our estimated annual effective rate to reflect a change in the federal statutory rate from 35% to 21%, as a result of the enactment of the Act, which included broad tax reforms that are applicable to us. The rate change is effective January 1, 2018 and therefore will require us to use a blended U.S. statutory rate of 31.58% for our fiscal year 2018. As a result, we recognized a tax benefit in our tax provision for the three and nine months ended December 29, 2017 related to applying the new blended tax rate to our taxable income, as well as adjusting our deferred tax balance to reflect the application of the Act.

Our effective tax rate for loss from continuing operations for the three and nine months ended December 30, 2016 was based on the historic statutory tax rate of 35%. Our effective tax rate for loss from continuing operations for the three months ended December 30, 2016 differs from the federal statutory income tax rate primarily due to the benefits of lower-taxed international earnings and the research and development credit, partially offset by various permanent differences. Our effective tax rate for loss from continuing operations for the nine months ended December 30, 2016 differs from the federal statutory income tax rate primarily due to the benefits of lower-taxed international earnings and the research and development credit, partially offset by various permanent differences and tax expense related to the loss of tax attributes due to restructuring activities. Additionally, as pre-tax income (loss) approaches break even, small changes can produce significant variability in the effective tax rate.

For the three and nine months ended December 29, 2017, we recorded an income tax benefit of $30 million and an income tax expense of $7 million on discontinued operations, respectively. For the three and nine months ended December 30, 2016, we recorded an income tax benefit of $85 million and an income tax expense of $49 million on discontinued operations, respectively. See Note 13 for further details regarding discontinued operations.

Income tax expense from continuing operations for the three and nine months ended December 29, 2017 was adjusted to reflect the discrete effects of the Act and resulted in an increase in income tax benefit of $810 million. This includes an income tax benefit of $1.6 billion resulting from the application of the Act to existing deferred tax balances, including a reduction of the previously accrued deferred tax liability for foreign earnings by $1.4 billion. This was partially offset by $821 million of tax expense that was recorded for the one-time transition tax liability under the Act.

As of December 29, 2017, we have not completed our accounting for the tax effects of enactment of the Act; however, in certain cases, as described below, we have made a reasonable estimate of the effects on our existing deferred tax balances and the one-time transition tax. These amounts may require further adjustments as a result of additional future guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, changes in our assumptions, and the availability of further information and interpretations. In other cases, we have not been able to make a reasonable estimate and we continue to account for those items based on our existing accounting policies and the provisions of the tax laws that were in effect immediately prior to enactment. For the items for which we were able to determine a reasonable estimate, we recognized a provisional tax benefit of $810 million, which is included as a component of income tax expense from continuing operations.

We remeasured certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on an estimate of the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future. However, we are still analyzing certain aspects of the Act and refining our calculations, which could potentially affect the measurement of these balances or potentially give rise to new deferred tax amounts. Additionally, our estimates for when timing differences will reverse could differ from actual results at year end, impacting our provisional tax benefit.

The Act contained a one-time transition tax that is based on our total post-1986 earnings and profits (“E&P”) that we previously deferred from U.S. income taxes. We recorded a provisional amount for our one-time transition tax liability of our foreign subsidiaries. We have not yet completed our calculation of the total post-1986 E&P for these foreign subsidiaries. The liability ultimately determined will be dependent on our final fiscal year results. Further, the transition tax is based in part on the amount of those earnings held in cash and other specified assets. This amount may change when we finalize the calculation of post-1986 foreign E&P previously deferred from U.S. federal taxation and finalize the amounts held in cash or other specified assets. Future accounting guidance may also change our provisional estimates for the transition tax.

We have not completed our analysis of the deferred tax accounting for the new taxes on global intangible low taxed income and, therefore, have not recorded provisional amounts. We have not determined whether our accounting policy will be to record these amounts as deferred taxes or as period costs. We do not have sufficient information to complete the analysis and are awaiting potential further guidance required to evaluate the impact of deferred tax accounting for these provisions. Following the Securities and Exchange Commission guidance on changes in the tax law for which we are unable to make a provisional estimate, we have continued to compute this aspect of the tax provision based on the tax laws that were in effect immediately prior to the Act being enacted.