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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes INCOME TAXES
Income Tax Provision
The following tables present our income tax provision and effective tax rate:
Three Months Ended September 30,
20252024
(in millions)
Income tax provision$106 $51 
Effective tax rate20.0%14.3%
Nine Months Ended September 30,
20252024
(in millions)
Income tax provision$296 $250 
Effective tax rate18.9%24.8%
The higher effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2025, as compared to the prior year period, was primarily due to a tax benefit related to payments made to former Adenza employees in September of 2024. The lower effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2025, as compared to the prior year period, was primarily due to the completion of an intra-group transfer of certain intellectual property, or IP, rights to the U.S. headquarters in June of 2024.
The effective tax rate may vary from period to period depending on, among other factors, the geographic and business mix of earnings and losses. These and other factors, including history of pre-tax earnings and losses, are taken into account in assessing the ability to realize deferred tax assets.
On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA, was signed into law. While we anticipate a positive impact, we do not expect it to be material to earnings in future periods.
Tax Audits
Nasdaq and its eligible subsidiaries file a consolidated U.S. federal income tax return, applicable state and local income tax returns and non-U.S. income tax returns. We are subject to examination by federal, state and local, and foreign tax authorities. Our federal income tax return is subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service for the years 2021 through 2023. Several state tax returns are currently under examination by the respective tax authorities for the years 2014 through 2023. Non-U.S. tax returns are subject to examination by the respective tax authorities for the years 2019 through 2024.
We regularly assess the likelihood of additional assessments by each jurisdiction and have established tax reserves that we believe are adequate in relation to the potential for additional assessments. Examination outcomes and the timing of examination settlements are subject to uncertainty. Although the results of such examinations may have an impact on our unrecognized tax benefits, we do not anticipate that such impact will be material to our condensed consolidated financial position or results of operations, but may be material to our operating results for a particular period and the effective tax rate for that period. We do not expect the settlement of any tax audits to be material in the next twelve months.