Income Taxes	6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Income Taxes	Income Taxes For the three and six months ended March 31, 2015, the Company's effective tax rates of 1.7% and (3.9)%, respectively, were less than the expected U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% and impacted by pretax losses including significant impairment and bad debt expense in our Insurance, Energy and Asset Management segments in the United States and certain pretax losses from foreign jurisdictions for which the Company concluded that the tax benefits are not more-likely-than-not to be realized, resulting in the recording of valuation allowances. The six months ended March 31, 2015 included recognition of a nonrecurring net income tax benefit of $12.3 attributable to tax impact related to the impairment of certain FOH indefinite lived intangible assets. Due to the indefinite life of these assets for book purposes, the related deferred tax liability was not regarded as a source of taxable income to support the realization of deferred tax assets. Consequently, the impairment recorded resulted in a reduction to the deferred tax liability previously recorded. For the three and six months ended March 31, 2014, the Company's effective tax rates of 19.2% and (77.2)%, respectively, were negatively impacted by the following: (i) increased profitability of FGL’s life insurance business which files its own consolidated Federal income tax return; (ii) pretax losses in the United States and some foreign jurisdictions for which the Company concluded that the tax benefits are not more likely-than-not realizable, resulting in valuation allowances; (iii) book expense for the increase in the fair value of the equity conversion feature of the Company's preferred stock, for which no tax benefit is available; and (iv) tax amortization of certain indefinite lived intangibles. The majority of U.S. net operating losses ("NOL"), capital losses and tax credit carryforwards of HRG, Spectrum Brands and FGL are subject to valuation allowances, as the Company concluded all or a portion of the related tax benefits are not more likely-than-not to be realized. Utilization of a portion of the NOL, capital loss and tax credit carryforwards of HRG, Spectrum Brands and FGL are subject to limitations under Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") Sections 382 and 383. Such limitations result from ownership changes of more than 50 percentage points over a three-year period.

Income Taxes

For the three and six months ended March 31, 2015, the Company's effective tax rates of 1.7% and (3.9)%, respectively, were less than the expected U.S. statutory tax rate of 35% and impacted by pretax losses including significant impairment and bad debt expense in our Insurance, Energy and Asset Management segments in the United States and certain pretax losses from foreign jurisdictions for which the Company concluded that the tax benefits are not more-likely-than-not to be realized, resulting in the recording of valuation allowances. The six months ended March 31, 2015 included recognition of a nonrecurring net income tax benefit of $12.3 attributable to tax impact related to the impairment of certain FOH indefinite lived intangible assets. Due to the indefinite life of these assets for book purposes, the related deferred tax liability was not regarded as a source of taxable income to support the realization of deferred tax assets. Consequently, the impairment recorded resulted in a reduction to the deferred tax liability previously recorded.

For the three and six months ended March 31, 2014, the Company's effective tax rates of 19.2% and (77.2)%, respectively, were negatively impacted by the following: (i) increased profitability of FGL’s life insurance business which files its own consolidated Federal income tax return; (ii) pretax losses in the United States and some foreign jurisdictions for which the Company concluded that the tax benefits are not more likely-than-not realizable, resulting in valuation allowances; (iii) book expense for the increase in the fair value of the equity conversion feature of the Company's preferred stock, for which no tax benefit is available; and (iv) tax amortization of certain indefinite lived intangibles.

The majority of U.S. net operating losses ("NOL"), capital losses and tax credit carryforwards of HRG, Spectrum Brands and FGL are subject to valuation allowances, as the Company concluded all or a portion of the related tax benefits are not more likely-than-not to be realized. Utilization of a portion of the NOL, capital loss and tax credit carryforwards of HRG, Spectrum Brands and FGL are subject to limitations under Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") Sections 382 and 383. Such limitations result from ownership changes of more than 50 percentage points over a three-year period.