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INCOME TAXES (Notes)
3 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
INCOME TAXES
INCOME TAXES

For the three months ended January 31, 2019, the company's income tax benefit was $256 million with an effective tax rate of (103.2) percent. For the three months ended January 31, 2019, our effective tax rate and the resulting provision for income taxes were significantly impacted by the discrete benefit of $299 million related to the restructuring and extension of the company’s tax incentive in Singapore. The income taxes for the three months ended January 31, 2019 also includes the excess tax benefits of $4 million from stock-based compensation.

We completed a restructuring of our operations in Singapore in December 2018 which extended and modified the company’s tax incentive until 2027. The restructuring along with the application of the new accounting rules under ASU 2016-16, intra-entity transfer of assets on November 1, 2018, resulted in a $299 million tax benefit in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.

For the three months ended January 31, 2018, the company's income tax expense was $553 million with an effective tax rate of 237.3 percent. The effective tax rate and the provision for income taxes were significantly impacted by a discrete charge of $533 million related to the enactment of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("the Tax Act"). The income taxes provision for the three months ended January 31, 2018 also includes the excess tax benefits of $11 million from stock based compensation.


2017 U.S. Tax Reform - Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Act was enacted into law. The Tax Act enacted significant changes affecting our fiscal year 2018, including, but not limited to, (1) reducing the U.S. federal corporate tax rate and (2) imposing a one-time transition tax on certain unrepatriated earnings of foreign subsidiaries that had not been previously taxed in the U.S.

The Tax Act also establishes new tax provisions affecting our fiscal year 2019, including, but not limited to, (1) creating a new provision designed to tax global intangible low-tax income (“GILTI”); (2) generally eliminating U.S. federal taxes on dividends from foreign subsidiaries; (3) eliminating the corporate alternative minimum tax (“AMT”); (4) creating the base erosion anti-abuse tax (“BEAT”); (5) establishing a deduction for foreign derived intangible income ("FDII"); (6) repealing the domestic production activity deduction; and (7) establishing new limitations on deductible interest expense and certain executive compensation.

GILTI: The Tax Act subjects a U.S. corporation to tax on its GILTI. U.S. GAAP allows companies to make an accounting policy election to either (1) treat taxes due on future GILTI inclusions in the U.S. taxable income as a current-period expense when incurred (“period cost method”) or (2) factoring such amounts into a company’s measurement of its deferred taxes (“deferred method”). We have completed our analysis and elected to treat GILTI as a “current period cost”.

In the U.S., tax years remain open back to the year 2015 for federal income tax purposes and the year 2000 for significant states. In other major jurisdictions where the company conducts business, the tax years generally remain open back to the year 2001. There were no substantial changes from our 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K to the status of the open tax years in the first three months of fiscal year 2019.

It is reasonably possible there could be significant changes to our unrecognized tax benefits in the next twelve months due to either the expiration of a statute of limitation or a tax audit settlement. Given the number of years and numerous matters that remain subject to examination in various tax jurisdictions, management is unable to estimate the range of possible changes to the balance of our unrecognized tax benefits. The company will continue to assess the impact of the further guidance from federal and state tax authorities on its business and consolidated financial statements. Any future adjustments will be recognized as discrete income tax expense or benefit in the period the adjustments are determined.