(8) Income Taxes

Income tax benefit (expense) consists of:

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The following table presents a summary of our domestic and foreign earnings from continuing operations before income taxes:

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Income tax benefit (expense) differs from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal income tax rate of 21% as a result of the following:

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For the year ended December 31, 2021 income tax expense was greater than the U.S. statutory rate of 21% due to foreign tax expense, state income tax expense, the impairment of goodwill that is not deductible for tax purposes, and non-deductible interest expense related to Preferred Stock, partially offset by benefits from tax credits generated by our alternative energy investments.

During November and December of 2021, the Company, through a wholly owned foreign subsidiary, recognized income related to the exchange and redemption of the outstanding Motorola Exchangeables and the extinguishment of related hedges. The income is subject to tax under the U.S Global Intangible Low-taxed Income (“GILTI”) rules.  The tax effect of this GILTI income, including the federal tax benefit of related foreign tax credits, is treated by the Company as a period cost.  In addition, the Company recorded a U.S. federal tax benefit for foreign derived intangible income deductions claimed on royalty income recognized by the Company in the U.S. during 2021.  The tax effect of these items is included in Tax on foreign earnings, net of federal tax benefit in the above table.

For the year ended December 31, 2020 the Company recorded an income tax benefit.  The tax benefit was primarily driven by the impacts of a corporate realignment and tax credits generated by alternative energy investments.

During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company completed a corporate realignment transaction, whereby the assets and liabilities of certain foreign business units held in U.S. subsidiaries were transferred to QVC Global, a foreign subsidiary of QVC.  This changed the manner in which income of the foreign business units is subject to U.S. income tax.  As part of this realignment and upon entering into a payment agreement, QVC Global became the primary co-obligor of the Motorola Exchangeables. The Company’s accounting policy is not to record deferred income taxes related to global intangible low-taxed income activity in our foreign subsidiaries but instead to recognize income tax expense in the periods as incurred.  Accordingly, the deferred income tax liability for the Motorola Exchangeables that existed prior to the corporate realignment was reduced to zero and the Company recorded a corresponding income tax benefit.

For the year ended December 31, 2019 income tax benefit was greater than the U.S. statutory rate of 21% primarily due to tax benefits from tax credits and incentives generated by our alternative energy investments and tax benefits from losses generated in 2019 that were eligible for carryback to tax years with federal income tax rates greater than the U.S. statutory tax rate of 21%, partially offset by a goodwill impairment that is not deductible for tax purposes and an increase in the valuation allowance against certain deferred tax assets.

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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The Company's valuation allowance did not increase or decrease in 2021.

At December 31, 2021, the Company had a deferred tax asset of $240 million for net operating losses, credit carryforwards, and interest expense carryforwards. If not utilized to reduce income tax liabilities in future periods, $177 million of these loss carryforwards and tax credits will expire at various times between 2022 and 2039. The remaining $63 million of tax losses and carryforwards may be carried forward indefinitely. These losses and credit carryforwards are expected to be utilized prior to expiration, except for $181 million which, based on current projections, will not be utilized in the future and are subject to a valuation allowance.

At December 31, 2021, the Company had a deferred tax asset of $95 million for foreign tax credit carryforwards. If not utilized to reduce income tax liabilities in future periods, these foreign tax credit carryforwards will expire at various times between 2028 and 2031. The Company estimates that $80 million of its foreign tax credit carryforward will expire without utilization.

A reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

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As of December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Company had recorded tax reserves of $88 million, $83 million and $75 million, respectively, related to unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions.  If such tax benefits were to be recognized for financial statement purposes, $70 million, $66 million and $61 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, would be reflected in the Company's tax expense and affect its effective tax rate.  Qurate Retail's estimate of its unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions requires a high degree of judgment. The Company has tax positions for which the amount of related unrecognized tax benefits could change during 2022. The amount of unrecognized tax benefits related to these issues could change as a result of potential settlements, lapsing of statute of limitations and revisions of estimates.  It is reasonably possible that the amount of the Company's gross unrecognized tax benefits may increase within the next twelve months by up to $2 million.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company's tax years prior to 2018 are closed for federal income tax purposes, and the IRS has completed its examination of the Company's 2018 and 2019 tax years, however, 2018 and 2019 remain open until the statute of limitations lapses on October 15 of 2022 and 2023, respectively. The Company's 2020 and 2021 tax years are being examined currently as part of the IRS's Compliance Assurance Process ("CAP") program. Various states are currently examining the Company's prior years’ state income tax returns. The Company is not under audit in any foreign tax jurisdictions.

The Company recorded $28 million of accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions for the year ended December 31, 2021, $25 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 and $23 million for the year ended December 31, 2019.