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Income Taxes (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Income Taxes [Line Items] |
Schedule of income before income taxes |
Income Before Income Taxes |  |  |  |  |
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |  |  | 2017 |
Domestic | $ | 16,646 |  |  | $ | 14,387 |  |  | $ | 14,331 |
Foreign | 350 |  |  | 855 |  |  | 1,022 |
| $ | 16,996 |  |  | $ | 15,242 |  |  | $ | 15,353 |
Schedule for the components of income tax expense |
Components of Income Tax (Expense) Benefit |  |  |  |  |
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |  |  | 2017 |
Current (Expense) Benefit: |  |  |  |  |
Federal | $ | (2,085 | ) |  | $ | (2,026 | ) |  | $ | (2,411 | )
State | (425 | ) |  | (639 | ) |  | (277 | )
Foreign | (600 | ) |  | (425 | ) |  | (389 | )
| (3,110 | ) |  | (3,090 | ) |  | (3,077 | )
Deferred (Expense) Benefit: |  |  |  |  |
Federal | (902 | ) |  | (546 | ) |  | 10,651 |
State | 15 |  |  | 167 |  |  | (11 | )
Foreign | 324 |  |  | 89 |  |  | 6 |
| (563 | ) |  | (290 | ) |  | 10,646 |
Income tax (expense) benefit | $ | (3,673 | ) |  | $ | (3,380 | ) |  | $ | 7,569 |
Schedule of items that effect income tax expense | Our income tax (expense) benefit differs from the federal statutory amount because of the effect of the items detailed in the table below.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |  |  | 2017 |
Federal tax at statutory rate | $ | (3,569 | ) |  | $ | (3,201 | ) |  | $ | (5,374 | )
State income taxes, net of federal benefit | (306 | ) |  | (212 | ) |  | (299 | )
Foreign income taxed at different rates | (126 | ) |  | (147 | ) |  | (70 | )
Nontaxable income attributable to noncontrolling interests | 51 |  |  | 20 |  |  | 45 |
Adjustments to uncertain and effectively settled tax positions, net | (3 | ) |  | (144 | ) |  | 62 |
Accrued interest and penalties on uncertain and effectively settled tax positions, net | 13 |  |  | (29 | ) |  | (3 | )
Excess tax benefits recognized on share-based compensation | 196 |  |  | 75 |  |  | 297 |
Tax legislation | 31 |  |  | 120 |  |  | 12,682 |
Other | 40 |  |  | 138 |  |  | 229 |
Income tax (expense) benefit | $ | (3,673 | ) |  | $ | (3,380 | ) |  | $ | 7,569 |
Schedule of the components of net deferred tax liability |
Components of Net Deferred Tax Liability |  |  |
December 31 (in millions) | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |
Deferred Tax Assets: |  |  |
Net operating loss and other loss carryforwards | $ | 2,017 |  |  | $ | 1,926 |
Nondeductible accruals and other | 2,779 |  |  | 2,656 |
Less: Valuation allowance | 1,906 |  |  | 632 |
| 2,890 |  |  | 3,950 |
Deferred Tax Liabilities: |  |  |
Differences between book and tax basis of property and equipment and intangible assets | 29,387 |  |  | 29,139 |
Differences between book and tax basis of investments | 702 |  |  | 491 |
Differences between book and tax basis of long-term debt | 751 |  |  | 604 |
Differences between book and tax basis of foreign subsidiaries and undistributed foreign earnings | 143 |  |  | 85 |
| 30,983 |  |  | 30,319 |
Net deferred tax liability | $ | 28,093 |  |  | $ | 26,369 |
Reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits |
Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits |  |  |  |  |
(in millions) | 2019 |  |  | 2018 |  |  | 2017 |
Gross unrecognized tax benefits, January 1 | $ | 1,543 |  |  | $ | 1,497 |  |  | $ | 1,443 |
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year | 230 |  |  | 229 |  |  | 121 |
Additions based on tax positions related to prior years | 133 |  |  | 125 |  |  | 319 |
Additions from acquired subsidiaries | 1 |  |  | 130 |  |  | — |
Reductions for tax positions of prior years | (344 | ) |  | (346 | ) |  | (251 | )
Reductions due to expiration of statutes of limitations | (117 | ) |  | (75 | ) |  | (70 | )
Settlements with tax authorities | (24 | ) |  | (17 | ) |  | (65 | )
Gross unrecognized tax benefits, December 31 | 1,422 |  |  | 1,543 |  |  | 1,497 |
Positions paid | (409 | ) |  | (531 | ) |  | (688 | )
Liability for uncertain tax positions | $ | 1,013 |  |  | $ | 1,012 |  |  | $ | 809 |
NBCUniversal Media LLC [Member] |
Income Taxes [Line Items] |
Schedule for the components of income tax expense |
Components of Income Tax Expense |  |  |
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2019 |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |
Foreign |  |  |
Current income tax expense | $ | (184 | ) | $ | (230 | ) | $ | (201 | )
Deferred income tax expense | 44 |  | 31 |  | 7 |
Withholding tax expense | (145 | ) | (163 | ) | (187 | )
U.S. domestic tax expense | (35 | ) | 11 |  | (11 | )
Income tax expense | $ | (320 | ) | $ | (351 | ) | $ | (392 | )

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- 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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32639-109319 + Details
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- 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://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32537-109319 + Details
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- 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://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
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- Definition Tabular disclosure for tax positions taken in the tax returns filed or to be filed for which it is more likely than not that the tax position will not be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities and other income tax contingencies. Includes, but is not limited to, interest and penalties, reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits, unrecognized tax benefits that would affect the effective tax rate, tax years that remain subject to examination by tax jurisdictions, and information about positions for which it is reasonably possible that amounts unrecognized will significantly change within 12 months. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=SL6600010-109319 Reference 2: 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 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 19 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32840-109319 + Details
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