XML 83 R53.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.8

Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Taxes (Tables) [Abstract]

Components of income tax expense

The components of income tax expense for the years ended December 31 included in the Consolidated Statements of Income were as follows:

(Millions)						2013			2012			2011
Current income tax expense:
	U.S. federal				$	1,730		$	982		$	958
	U.S. state and local					288			189			156
	Non-U.S.					514			445			434
		Total current income tax expense				2,532			1,616			1,548
Deferred income tax expense (benefit):
	U.S. federal					113			359			464
	U.S. state and local					4			39			68
	Non-U.S.					(120)			(45)			(23)
		Total deferred income tax expense				(3)			353			509
Total income tax expense on
	continuing operations				$	2,529		$	1,969		$	2,057
Income tax benefit from
	discontinued operations				$	―		$	―		$	(36)

Effective income tax rate

A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate of 35 percent to the Company's actual income tax rate for the years ended December 31 on continuing operations was as follows:

				2013		2012		2011
U.S. statutory federal income tax rate				35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (decrease) in taxes resulting from:
	Tax-exempt income			(1.6)		(1.6)		(1.5)
	State and local income taxes, net of
		federal benefit		3.1		2.5		2.6
	Non-U.S. subsidiaries earnings(a)			(2.8)		(5.2)		(4.4)
	Tax settlements(b)			(1.9)		(0.2)		(1.9)
	All other			0.3		―		(0.2)
		Actual tax rates(a)		32.1	%	30.5	%	29.6	%

• Results for all years primarily included tax benefits associated with the undistributed earnings of certain non-U.S. subsidiaries that were deemed to be reinvested indefinitely. In addition, 2012 and 2011 included tax benefits of $146 million and $77 million, which decreased the actual tax rates by 2.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, related to the realization of certain foreign tax credits.
• Relates to the resolution of tax matters in various jurisdictions.

Components of deferred tax assets and liabilities

The significant components of deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31 are reflected in the following table:

(Millions)					2013			2012
Deferred tax assets:
	Reserves not yet deducted for tax purposes			$	3,813		$	3,828
	Employee compensation and benefits				721			761
	Other				546			537
		Gross deferred tax assets			5,080			5,126
		Valuation allowance			(121)			(162)
		Deferred tax assets after valuation allowance			4,959			4,964
Deferred tax liabilities:
	Intangibles and fixed assets				1,325			1,346
	Deferred revenue				453			403
	Deferred interest				363			378
	Asset Securitization				130			73
	Other				245			306
		Gross deferred tax liabilities			2,516			2,506
Net deferred tax assets				$	2,443		$	2,458

X

- Details

Name:	axp_IncomeTaxesTablesAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	axp_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 9

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32639-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfComponentsOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32537-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfDeferredTaxAssetsAndLiabilitiesTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 740

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 12

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32687-109319

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration