Australia’s BHP flags $1.8 bln charge from U.S. tax reform

Feb 13 (Reuters) – BHP Billiton said on Tuesday it will record a $1.8 billion income tax expense due to cuts in the U.S. Federal corporate income tax rate. The expense, which will be treated as an exceptional item, consists of a non-cash re-measurement of deferred taxes of $898 million and a non-cash impairment of foreign tax credits of $834 million. However, the miner has said that the lower corporate tax rate will benefit its U.S. attributable profit in the longer term.