Income Taxes |
6 Months Ended |
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Jun. 30, 2024 | |
| Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Income Taxes |
Income Taxes We have historically filed a consolidated federal income tax return for all of our wholly owned subsidiaries, including Sirius XM and Pandora. On February 1, 2021, we entered into a tax sharing agreement with Liberty Media governing the allocation of consolidated U.S. income tax liabilities and setting forth agreements with respect to other tax matters. The tax sharing agreement contains provisions that we believe are customary for tax sharing agreements between members of a consolidated group. On November 3, 2021, Liberty Media informed us that it beneficially owned over 80% of the outstanding shares of our common stock; as a result of this, we were included in the consolidated tax return of Liberty Media beginning November 4, 2021. The tax sharing agreement and our inclusion in Liberty Media’s consolidated tax group has not had any material adverse effect on us.
We have calculated the provision for income taxes by using a separate return method. Any difference between the tax expense (or benefit) allocated to us under the separate return method and payments to be made for (or received from) Liberty Media for tax expense are treated as either dividends or capital contributions. Income tax expense was $89 and $62 for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $168 and $138 for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Our effective tax rate for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 was 22.0% and 16.7%, respectively. Our effective tax rate for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 was 22.4% and 20.3%, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 was negatively impacted by tax losses related to share-based compensation. The effective tax rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2023 was primarily impacted by the release of valuation reserves against state net operating losses we now expect to realize. We estimate our effective tax rate for the year ending December 31, 2024 will be approximately 22%.
During the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, we recognized net tax benefits of $12 and $16, respectively, related to our tax equity investments. These recognized net tax benefits were recorded to Income tax expense in our unaudited consolidated statement of comprehensive income. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, the net tax benefits included tax credits and other income tax benefits of $54 and $79, respectively, which were partially offset by amortization expense of $42 and $63, respectively. Refer to Note 10 for more information on our tax equity investments.
As of each of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had a valuation allowance related to deferred tax assets of $88 that were not likely to be realized due to the timing of certain federal and state net operating loss limitations.
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