UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC

9. Income Taxes

The current income tax provision reflects the tax consequences of revenues and expenses currently taxable or deductible on various income tax returns for the year reported. The deferred income tax provision or benefit generally reflects the net change in deferred income tax assets and liabilities during the year, excluding any deferred income tax assets and liabilities of acquired businesses.

The components of the provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31 are as follows:

The reconciliation of the tax provision at the U.S. federal statutory rate to the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for the years ended December 31 is as follows:

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the differences between the financial and income tax reporting bases of assets and liabilities based on enacted tax rates and laws. The components of deferred income tax assets and liabilities as of December 31 are as follows:

Valuation allowances are provided when it is considered more likely than not deferred tax assets will not be realized. The valuation allowances primarily relate to future tax benefits on certain federal, state and non-U.S. net operating loss carryforwards. Gross federal net operating loss carryforwards of $125 million expire beginning in 2026 through 2042 and $360 million have an indefinite carryforward period; state net operating loss carryforwards expire beginning in 2024 through 2043, with some having an indefinite carryforward period. Substantially all of the non-U.S. tax loss carryforwards have indefinite carryforward periods. Additionally, as of December 31, 2023, the Company has historical non-U.S. net operating loss carryforwards for which a deferred tax asset and valuation allowance of $4.5 billion are not established because realization of the loss carryforwards is remote.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s undistributed earnings from non-U.S. subsidiaries are intended to be indefinitely reinvested in non-U.S. operations, and therefore no U.S. deferred taxes have been recorded. Taxes payable on the remittance of such earnings would be minimal.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31 is as follows:

The Company believes it is reasonably possible its liability for unrecognized tax benefits will decrease in the next twelve months by $145 million as a result of audit settlements and the expiration of statutes of limitations.

The Company classifies net interest and penalties associated with uncertain income tax positions as income taxes within its Consolidated Statements of Operations. During the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized $177 million, $64 million and $66 million of net interest and penalties, respectively. The Company had $430 million and $253 million of accrued interest and penalties for uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. These amounts are not included in the reconciliation above. As of December 31, 2023, there were $2.0 billion of unrecognized tax benefits which, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate.

The Company currently files income tax returns in the United States, various states and localities and non-U.S. jurisdictions. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has completed exams on the consolidated income tax returns for fiscal years 2016 and prior. The Company’s 2017 through 2020 tax years are under review by the IRS under its Compliance Assurance Program. The Company is no longer subject to state income tax examinations prior to the 2014 tax year. In general, the Company is subject to examination in non-U.S. jurisdictions for years 2015 and forward.

10. Shareholders' Equity

Regulatory Capital and Dividend Restrictions

The Company’s regulated insurance and HMO subsidiaries are subject to regulations and standards in their respective jurisdictions. These standards, among other things, require these subsidiaries to maintain specified levels of statutory capital, as defined by each jurisdiction, and restrict the timing and amount of dividends and other distributions which may be paid to their parent companies. In the United States, most of these state regulations and standards are generally consistent with model regulations established by the NAIC. These standards generally permit dividends to be paid from statutory unassigned surplus of the regulated subsidiary and are limited based on the regulated subsidiary’s level of statutory net income and statutory capital and surplus. These dividends are referred to as “ordinary dividends” and generally may be paid without prior regulatory approval. If the dividend, together with other dividends paid within the preceding twelve months, exceeds a specified statutory limit or is paid from sources other than earned surplus, it is generally considered an “extraordinary dividend” and must receive prior regulatory approval.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company’s domestic insurance and HMO subsidiaries paid their parent companies dividends of $8.0 billion, including $4.9 billion of extraordinary dividends. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company’s domestic insurance and HMO subsidiaries paid their parent companies dividends of $8.8 billion, including $7.4 billion of extraordinary dividends.

The Company's global financially regulated subsidiaries had estimated aggregate statutory capital and surplus of $38.5 billion as of December 31, 2023. The estimated statutory capital and surplus necessary to satisfy regulatory requirements of the Company's global financially regulated subsidiaries was approximately $18.3 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Optum Bank must meet minimum capital requirements of the FDIC under the capital adequacy rules to which it is subject. At December 31, 2023, the Company believes Optum Bank met the FDIC requirements to be considered “Well Capitalized.”

Share Repurchase Program

Under its Board of Directors’ authorization, the Company maintains a share repurchase program. The objectives of the share repurchase program are to optimize the Company’s capital structure and cost of capital, thereby improving returns to shareholders, as well as to offset the dilutive impact of share-based awards. Repurchases may be made from time to time in open market purchases or other types of transactions (including prepaid or structured share repurchase programs), subject to certain restrictions. In June 2018, the Board of Directors renewed the Company’s share repurchase program with an authorization to repurchase up to 100 million shares of its common stock. The Board of Directors from time to time may further amend the share repurchase program in order to increase the authorized number of shares which may be repurchased under the program.

A summary of common share repurchases for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 is as follows:

Dividends

In June 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors increased the Company’s quarterly cash dividend to shareholders to an annual rate of $7.52 compared to $6.60 per share, which the Company had paid since June 2022. Declaration and payment of future quarterly dividends is at the discretion of the Board and may be adjusted as business needs or market conditions change.

The following table provides details of the Company’s 2023 dividend payments: