(12)  Income Taxes

Income tax benefit (expense) consists of:

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The following table presents a summary of our domestic and foreign earnings (loss) before income taxes:

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Expected income tax benefit (expense) differs from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal income tax rate of 21% for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 as a result of the following:

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For the year ended December 31, 2022, the significant reconciling items, as noted in the table above, are a decrease in our valuation allowance, partially offset by the effect of state income taxes.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the significant reconciling items, as noted in the table above, are federal income tax credits, the settlement of state income tax audits at Sirius XM Holdings and a change in the Company’s foreign effective tax rate, partially offset by an increase in our valuation allowance, the effect of state income taxes and certain losses that are not deductible for income tax purposes.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, the significant reconciling items, as noted in the table above, are additional tax expense related to an impairment loss on goodwill that is not deductible for tax purposes and an increase in the Company’s valuation allowance, partially offset by tax benefits related to changes in the Company’s foreign effective tax rate and federal tax credits.

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred income tax assets and deferred income tax liabilities are presented below:

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During the year ended December 31, 2022, there was a $303 million decrease in the Company’s valuation allowance that affected tax expense and a $5 million decrease that affected equity.

At December 31, 2022, the Company had a deferred tax asset of $1,170 million for federal, state and foreign net operating losses (“NOLs”), interest expense carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. Of this amount, the Company has $4 million of federal NOLs, $205 million of state NOLs, $76 million of federal interest expense carryforwards, $72 million of federal tax credit carryforwards, $101 million of state tax credit carryforwards, $322 million of foreign NOLs and $301 million of foreign interest expense carryforwards that may be carried forward indefinitely. The remaining $89 million of carryforwards expire at certain future dates. These carryforwards are expected to be utilized in future periods and are not subject to a valuation allowance.

A reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

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As of December 31, 2022, the Company had unrecognized tax benefits and uncertain tax positions of $198 million. If such tax benefits were to be recognized for financial statement purposes, approximately $198 million would be reflected in the Company’s tax expense and affect its effective tax rate. We do not currently anticipate that our existing reserves related to uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2022 will significantly increase or decrease during the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2023; however, various events could cause our current expectations to change in the future. The Company’s estimate of its unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions requires a high degree of judgment.

As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s tax years prior to 2019 are closed for federal income tax purposes, and the IRS has completed its examination of the Company’s 2019 and 2020 tax years. The Company’s 2021 tax year is not under IRS examination. The Company’s 2022 tax year is currently under examination by the IRS. Various states are currently examining the Company’s prior years’ state income tax returns. We do not expect the ultimate disposition of these audits to have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately $2 million in accrued interest and penalties recorded related to uncertain tax positions.

On February 1, 2021, the Company entered into a tax sharing agreement with Sirius XM Holdings governing the allocation of consolidated U.S. income tax liabilities and setting forth agreements with respect to other tax matters. The tax sharing agreement was negotiated by the Company with a special committee of Sirius XM Holdings’ board of directors, all of whom are independent of the Company, and approved by the executive committee of the Board of Directors. The tax sharing agreement contains provisions that the Company believes are customary for tax sharing agreements between members of a consolidated group.

Under the Internal Revenue Code, two eligible corporations may form a consolidated tax group, and file a consolidated federal income tax return, if one corporation owns stock representing at least 80% of the voting power and value of the outstanding capital stock of the other corporation. Following the closing of the share exchange on November 3, 2021, as described in note 1, Liberty owned greater than 80% of the outstanding equity interest of Sirius XM Holdings, and, as a result, Liberty and Sirius XM Holdings became members of the same consolidated federal income tax group.

On November 1, 2021, Sirius XM Holdings entered into (i) an agreement with Liberty whereby Liberty agreed not to effect any merger with Sirius XM Holdings pursuant to Section 253 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (or any successor to such statute) without obtaining the prior approval of a special committee of the Sirius XM Holdings board of directors, all of whom are independent of Liberty (the “Special Committee”) (or any successor special committee of Sirius XM Holdings’ independent and disinterested directors) and (ii) an agreement regarding certain tax matters relating to the exchange. Each of these agreements was negotiated by the Special Committee with Liberty.