INCOME TAXES |
9 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2022 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| INCOME TAXES | INCOME TAXES The effective income tax rate for the nine months ended December 2022 was (28.6)% compared to 16.0% in the 2021 period. The nine months ended December 2022 included a net discrete tax benefit of $98.8 million, which primarily related to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") examinations for tax year 2017 and short-tax year 2018 resulting in a $94.9 million favorable adjustment to VF's transition tax liability under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Excluding the $98.8 million net discrete tax benefit in the 2022 period, the effective income tax rate would have been 9.5%. The nine months ended December 2021 included a net discrete tax expense of $43.7 million, which included a $92.3 million net tax expense related to unrecognized tax benefits and interest, a $9.6 million net tax benefit related to return to accrual adjustments, a $35.2 million net tax benefit related to withholding taxes on prior foreign earnings, a $1.7 million tax benefit related to stock compensation, and a $2.4 million net tax benefit related to tax rate change on deferred tax items. Excluding the $43.7 million net discrete tax expense in the 2021 period, the effective income tax rate would have been 12.8%. Without discrete items, the effective income tax rate for the nine months ended December 2022 decreased by 3.3% compared with the 2021 period primarily due to the jurisdictional mix of earnings.
VF files a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return, as well as separate and combined income tax returns in numerous state and international jurisdictions. In the U.S., the IRS examinations for tax years through 2015 have been effectively settled.
As previously reported, VF petitioned the U.S. Tax Court (the “Court”) to resolve an IRS dispute regarding the timing of income inclusion associated with VF’s acquisition of The Timberland Company in September 2011. While the IRS argues that all such income should have been immediately included in 2011, VF has reported periodic income inclusions in subsequent tax years. Both parties moved for summary judgment on the issue. On January 31, 2022, the Court issued its opinion in favor of the IRS and on July 14, 2022 issued its final decision. VF believes the opinion of the Court was in error based on the technical merits and filed a notice of appeal on October 7, 2022. VF continues to believe its timing and treatment of the income inclusion is appropriate and VF is vigorously defending its position. On October 19, 2022, VF paid $875.7 million related to the 2011 taxes and interest being disputed, which was recorded as an income tax receivable and is included in the other assets line item in VF's Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 2022, based on our assessment of the position under the more-likely-than-not standard of the accounting literature. Refer to Note 19 for additional details on this matter.
In addition, VF is currently subject to examination by various state and international tax authorities. Management regularly assesses the potential outcomes of both ongoing and future examinations for the current and prior years and has concluded that VF’s provision for income taxes is adequate. Management believes that some of these audits and negotiations will conclude during the next 12 months.
VF was granted a ruling which lowered the effective income tax rate on taxable earnings for years 2010 through 2014 under Belgium’s excess profit tax regime. During 2015, the European Union Commission (“EU”) investigated and announced its decision that these rulings were illegal and ordered the tax benefits to be collected from affected companies, including VF. Requests for annulment were filed by Belgium and VF Europe BVBA individually. During 2017 and 2018, VF Europe BVBA was assessed and paid €35.0 million tax and interest, which was recorded as an income tax receivable and is included in the other current assets line item in VF's Consolidated Balance Sheets, based on the expected success of the requests for annulment. During 2019, the General Court annulled the EU decision and the EU subsequently appealed the General Court’s annulment. In September 2021, the General Court's judgment was set aside by the Court of Justice of the EU and the case was sent back to the General Court to determine whether the excess profit tax regime amounted to illegal State aid. The case remains open and unresolved. If this matter is adversely resolved, these amounts will not be collected by VF.
During the nine months ended December 2022, the amount of net unrecognized tax benefits and associated interest increased by $9.9 million to $287.7 million. Management believes that it is reasonably possible that the amount of unrecognized income tax benefits and interest may decrease during the next 12 months by approximately $271.4 million related to the completion of examinations and other settlements with tax authorities and the expiration of statutes of limitations, of which $24.9 million would reduce income tax expense.
On August 16, 2022, the U.S. enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which, among other things, implements a 15% minimum tax on book income of certain large corporations, a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases and several tax incentives to promote clean energy. Based on the current analysis of the provisions, the Company does not expect this legislation to have a material impact on VF's income tax accounts.
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