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Income Taxes (Notes)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]
INCOME TAXES
The Partnership’s effective tax rate differs from the statutory rate primarily due to partnership earnings that are not subject to United States federal and most state income taxes at the partnership level. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Partnership’s effective tax rate was primarily driven by an increase in income before tax expense (benefit) at our corporate subsidiaries.
ETC Sunoco Holdings LLC (“Sunoco, Inc.”) historically included certain government incentive payments as taxable income on its federal and state income tax returns.  In connection with Sunoco, Inc.'s 2004 through 2011 years, Sunoco, Inc. filed amended returns with the IRS excluding these government incentive payments from federal taxable income.  The IRS denied the amended returns, and Sunoco, Inc. petitioned the Court of Federal Claims ("CFC") in June 2015 on this issue for the 2004 through 2009 tax years.  Sunoco, Inc.'s 2010 and 2011 years are extended for this issue with the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). In November 2016, the CFC ruled against Sunoco, Inc., and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the "Federal Circuit") affirmed the CFC's ruling on November 1, 2018.  Sunoco, Inc. subsequently filed a petition for rehearing with the Federal Circuit, and this was denied on January 24, 2019.  Sunoco, Inc. has until May 24, 2019 to file a petition for writ of certiorari to review the Federal Circuit's affirmation of the CFC's ruling.  If Sunoco, Inc. is ultimately fully successful in this litigation, it will receive tax refunds of approximately $530 million. However, due to the uncertainty surrounding the litigation, a reserve of $530 million was established for the full amount of the litigation. Due to the timing of the litigation and the related reserve, the receivable and the reserve for this issue have been netted in the balance sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018.