Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

NOTE 3 — INCOME TAXES

Our provisions for income taxes for the quarters ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were $397 million and $381 million, respectively, and the effective tax rates were 24.9% and 24.8%, respectively. Our provisions for income taxes for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were $776 million and $730 million, respectively, and the effective tax rates were 23.3% and 23.1%, respectively. Our provisions for income taxes included tax benefits related to settlements of employee equity awards of $85 million and $67 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Our gross unrecognized tax benefits were $649 million, excluding accrued interest of $155 million, as of June 30, 2023 ($639 million and $129 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022). Unrecognized tax benefits of $309 million ($278 million as of December 31, 2022) would affect the effective rate, if recognized.

At June 30, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service was conducting examinations of the Company’s 2016, 2017 and 2018 federal income tax returns and the 2019 returns of certain affiliates. We are also subject to examination by state, local and foreign taxing authorities. Depending on the resolution of any tax disputes, the completion of examinations by taxing authorities, or the expiration of statutes of limitation for specific taxing jurisdictions, we believe it is reasonably possible that our liability for unrecognized tax benefits may significantly increase or decrease within the next 12 months. However, we are currently unable to estimate the range of any possible change.