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INCOME TAXES
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9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2014
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| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes |
NOTE 13 - INCOME TAXES
For the nine months ended September 30, 2014 we recognized an income tax benefit of $1,012.3 million. The income tax benefit was primarily driven by impairment charges recorded in September 2014. In addition, as our loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 exceeds the anticipated ordinary loss for the full year, the tax benefit recognized for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 was limited to the amount that would be recognized if the year-to-date ordinary loss were the anticipated ordinary loss for the full year. Other items contributing to the benefit are deductions for percentage depletion in excess of cost depletion related to U.S. operations and non-taxable interest income. The tax benefit was partially offset by tax expense resulting from the recording of valuation allowances against certain credits and losses generated in the current year and foreign taxes and benefits derived from operations outside the United States, which are taxed at rates lower than the U.S. statutory rate of 35 percent. Included in the net benefit were non-recurring items recorded in the first nine months of 2014. These adjustments relate primarily to the recording of valuation allowances against existing deferred tax assets as a result of the impairment of global assets, the repeal of the Australian Minerals Resources Rent Tax, the finalization of certain domestic and foreign tax returns and foreign currency remeasurement of current and deferred tax assets and deferred liabilities.
The tax benefit of the non-taxable interest income is expected to be $48.4 million for the year ending December 31, 2014. This is related to long-term intercompany loans between certain foreign subsidiaries and is a result of the difference in the tax characterization of the instruments in the United States, Australia and Canada. Interest expense is deductible by the debtors in Canada and Australia and interest income is excluded from taxable income by the creditors in the United States and Canada, resulting in an income tax benefit of $48.4 million. The adjustment is based on the terms of the intercompany loans and no significant management judgments or estimates were involved in the computation of the non-taxable interest income. The current year benefit of the intercompany loan between the United States and Canada is $27.8 million and will have no further impact on our financial results subsequent to April 27, 2014 when the terms of the loan were restructured. A benefit of $20.6 million is expected from the intercompany loan between Canada and Australia and will continue to have an impact through the year ending December 31, 2020, of which the impact will vary depending on the fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
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