Comcast 2015 Annual Report Download - page 171

NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Note 14: Income Taxes
Components of Income Tax Expense
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2015 2014 2013
Foreign
Current income tax expense $81 $33 $77
Deferred income tax expense 2(8) (16)
Withholding tax expense 139 108 123
U.S. domestic tax expense 510 22
Income tax expense $ 227 $ 143 $ 206
We are a limited liability company, and our company is disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes as
an entity separate from NBCUniversal Holdings, a tax partnership. NBCUniversal and our subsidiaries are not
expected to incur any significant current or deferred U.S. domestic income taxes. Our tax liability is com-
prised primarily of withholding tax on foreign licensing activity and income taxes on foreign earnings. As a
result of our tax status, the deferred tax assets and liabilities included in our consolidated balance sheet at
December 31, 2015 and 2014 were not material.
In jurisdictions in which we are subject to income taxes, we base our provision for income taxes on our cur-
rent period income, changes in our deferred income tax assets and liabilities, income tax rates, changes in
estimates of our uncertain tax positions, and tax planning opportunities available in the jurisdictions in which
we operate. We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities when there are temporary differences between
the financial reporting basis and tax basis of our assets and liabilities and for the expected benefits of using
net operating loss carryforwards. When a change in the tax rate or tax law has an impact on deferred taxes,
we apply the change based on the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. We
record the change in our consolidated financial statements in the period of enactment.
We classify interest and penalties, if any, associated with our uncertain tax positions as a component of
income tax expense.
Uncertain Tax Positions
We retain liabilities for uncertain tax positions where we are the tax filer of record. GE and Comcast have
indemnified NBCUniversal Holdings and us with respect to our income tax obligations attributable to periods
prior to the close of the joint venture transaction, including indemnification of uncertain tax positions for these
periods. The liabilities for uncertain tax positions included in our consolidated balance sheet were not material
as of December 31, 2015 and 2014.
Various domestic and foreign tax authorities are examining our tax returns through 2014. The majority of the
periods under examination relate to tax years 2005 and forward.
Note 15: Supplemental Financial Information
Receivables
December 31 (in millions) 2015 2014
Receivables, gross $ 5,949 $ 5,258
Less: Allowance for returns and customer incentives 469 356
Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts 69 60
Receivables, net $ 5,411 $ 4,842
Comcast 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K 168