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Income Taxes | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2019
Income Taxes [Abstract] |
Income Taxes | Income taxes On June 30, 2019, Swiss voters approved the Swiss Tax Reform and Old Age Insurance financing bill ("Swiss tax reform"). As a result, the corporate income tax rate applicable to Alcon’s Swiss profits as of January 1, 2020 will increase from approximately 9.4% in 2019 to approximately 14.2% beginning in 2020. This change resulted in a non-cash increase in tax expense of $301 million related to the re-measurement of Swiss deferred tax assets and liabilities as of June 30, 2019 and is included as a discrete tax expense item.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for income taxes. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name IAS -Number 12 -IssueDate 2018-01-01 -Section Disclosure -URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=12&date=2018-03-01&anchor=sect_Disclosure&doctype=Standard -URIDate 2018-03-16 + Details
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