United states

Cash flow from operations increased $5.0 billion, primarily due to payment of $4.1 billion to the Internal Revenue Service in the prior year as a result of our settlement of the 2000-2003 audit examination along with increased cash received from customers in the current year. Cash used for financing increased $5.8 billion, primarily due to a $5.6 billion decrease in net cash proceeds from issuance and repayments of short-term and long-term debt. Financing activities also included a $1.9 billion increase in cash used for common stock repurchases, which was offset in part by a $1.7 billion increase in cash received from common stock issued. Cash used for investing decreased $4.5 billion due to a $3.3 billion decrease in cash used for combined investment purchases, sales, and maturities along with a $1.1 billion decrease in additions to property and equipment .

Cash flow from operations decreased $2.6 billion due to payment of approximately $4.1 billion to the IRS in connection with our settlement of the 2000-2003 audit examination. This impact was partially offset by the fiscal year 2008 payment of the $1.4 billion (€899 million) European Commission fine. Cash used for financing decreased $5.5 billion primarily due to $5.7 billion of net cash proceeds from issuance of short-term and long-term debt in fiscal year 2009. Financing activities also included a $3.2 billion decrease in common stock repurchased, which was offset by a $2.9 billion decline in common stock issued. Cash used for investing increased $11.2 billion due to a $15.9 billion rise in purchases of investments along with a $1.7 billion decrease in cash from investment sales and maturities. These impacts were partially offset by a $7.2 billion decrease in cash paid for acquisition of companies, including the purchase of aQuantive in fiscal year 2008.

On September 22, 2008, we announced the completion of the two repurchase programs approved by our Board of Directors during the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 (the “2007 Programs”) to buy back up to $40.0 billion of Microsoft common stock. On September 22, 2008, we also announced that our Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program authorizing up to $40.0 billion in share repurchases with an expiration date of September 30, 2013 (the “2008 Program”). As of June 30, 2010, approximately $23.7 billion remained of the $40.0 billion approved repurchase amount. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without notice.

During the periods reported, we repurchased with cash resources: 380 million shares for $10.8 billion during fiscal year 2010; 318 million shares for $8.2 billion during fiscal year 2009; and 402 million shares for $12.4 billion during fiscal year 2008. All shares repurchased in fiscal year 2010 were repurchased under the 2008 Program, while all shares repurchased in fiscal year 2008 were repurchased under the 2007 Programs. Of the shares repurchased in fiscal year 2009, 101 million shares were repurchased for $2.7 billion under the 2007 Programs, while the remainder were repurchased under the 2008 Program.

 

Dividends

During fiscal years 2010 and 2009, our Board of Directors declared the following dividends:

We provide indemnifications of varying scope and size to certain customers against claims of intellectual property infringement made by third parties arising from the use of our products and certain other matters. In evaluating estimated losses on these indemnifications, we consider factors such as the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and our ability to make a reasonable estimate of the amount of loss. To date, we have not encountered significant costs as a result of these obligations and have not accrued any liabilities related to these indemnifications in our financial statements.

The following table summarizes the payments due by fiscal year for our outstanding contractual obligations as of June 30, 2010. We expect to fund these commitments with existing cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and cash flows from operations.

(b) These amounts represent commitments for the construction of buildings, building improvements and leasehold improvements.

(c) These amounts represent undiscounted future minimum rental commitments under noncancellable facilities leases.

(d) These amounts represent purchase commitments, including all open purchase orders and all contracts that are take-or-pay contracts that are not presented as construction commitments above.

(e) We have excluded long-term tax contingencies and other tax liabilities of $7.1 billion and other long-term contingent liabilities of $236 million (related to the antitrust and unfair competition class action lawsuits) from the amounts presented, as the amounts that will be settled in cash are not known and the timing of any payments is uncertain. We have also excluded unearned revenue of $1.2 billion and non-cash items of $240 million.