XML 64 R53.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.19.1

Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax holiday amount	$ 4	$ 6
Income tax holiday per share benefit	$ 0.06	$ 0.07
Effective income tax rate	7.10%	20.30%
Effect of stock-based compensation	$ 7	$ 6
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	$ 3
Foreign currency exchange rate impact		$ 12
Increase in effective tax rate percentage points	(2.90%)	8.90%
Maximum [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Expected change in unrecognized tax benefits in the next twelve months	$ (1)
United States [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Statutory tax rate	21.00%
Ireland [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Statutory tax rate	12.50%
U.K [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Statutory tax rate	19.00%
Singapore [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Statutory tax rate	17.00%
Singapore [Member] | Contractual Tax Rate Singapore [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Marginal effective income tax rate	0.00%

X

- Definition

Percentage of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EffectiveIncomeTaxRateContinuingOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The amount of income taxes from which a reporting entity is exempt or for which it will receive a reduction in income taxes as a result of the income tax holiday granted by the taxing jurisdiction.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 11.C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34349781&loc=d3e330215-122817

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxHolidayAggregateDollarAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Per share amount effect of the income tax benefit resulting from the income tax holidays granted by taxing jurisdictions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 11.C)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=34349781&loc=d3e330215-122817

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxHolidayIncomeTaxBenefitsPerShare
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:perShareItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to other deductions.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 13
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32698-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationDeductionsOther
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to other adjustments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 12
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxReconciliationOtherAdjustments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The amount of the unrecognized tax benefit of a position taken for which it is reasonably possible that the total amount thereof will significantly increase or decrease within twelve months of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32718-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SignificantChangeInUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIsReasonablyPossibleAmountOfUnrecordedBenefit
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Income taxes.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wat_IncomeTaxesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	wat_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The amount of tax paid on an additional dollar of income.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wat_MarginalEffectiveIncomeTaxRate
Namespace Prefix:	wat_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage point change in effective tax rate relating to infrequent income tax items.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wat_PercentagePointChangeInEffectiveTaxRateRelatingToInfrequentIncomeTaxItems
Namespace Prefix:	wat_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage of statutory tax rate applicable to pretax income (loss).

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wat_StatutoryTaxRate
Namespace Prefix:	wat_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Amount of income tax expense (benefit) from effect of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wat_TaxCutsAndJobsActOf2017IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Namespace Prefix:	wat_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_US
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_IE
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_GB
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_SG
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis=wat_ContractualTaxRateSingaporeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: