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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Apr. 04, 2021
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes INCOME TAXES
The worldwide effective income tax rates for the fiscal first quarters of 2021 and 2020 were 16.6% and 11.0%, respectively. In 2019, Switzerland enacted the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (TRAF), which became effective on January 1, 2020. More information on the provisions of TRAF can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021. During the fiscal first quarter of 2020, the final canton where the Company maintains significant operations enacted TRAF legislation and, accordingly, the Company recorded an estimated deferred tax benefit of approximately $0.3 billion for the remeasurement of existing deferred tax liabilities offset by a related $0.2 billion increase in U.S. GILTI deferred taxes (1.3% net benefit to the effective tax rate).

In the first fiscal quarter of 2020, the Company reversed a contingent consideration liability related to the 2019 Auris Health acquisition that benefited the effective tax rate by 1.9% (for additional details see Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021).

Additionally, the Company had more income in higher tax jurisdictions relative to lower tax jurisdictions, as compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year. The Company also had additional tax benefits received from stock-based compensation that were either exercised or vested during each of the fiscal first quarters.

As of April 4, 2021, the Company had approximately $3.3 billion of liabilities from unrecognized tax benefits. The Company conducts business and files tax returns in numerous countries and currently has tax audits in progress in a number of jurisdictions. With respect to the United States, the IRS has completed its audit for the tax years through 2012. In other major jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the years that remain open to tax audit go back to the year 2006. The Company believes it is possible that tax audits may be completed over the next twelve months by taxing authorities in some jurisdictions outside of the United States. However, the Company is not able to provide a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of any other future tax payments relating to uncertain tax positions.