Note 14 - Income Taxes |
9 Months Ended | ||
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Sep. 30, 2018 | |||
Notes to Financial Statements | |||
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block] |
Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets (“DTAs”) and deferred tax liabilities (“DTLs”) are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. DTAs and DTLs are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on DTAs and DTLs of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Current accounting standards require a valuation allowance against DTAs if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the DTAs may
not be realized. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of these DTAs in future tax returns, all of the DTAs have been fully offset by a valuation allowance at September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, except the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) credit carryforward amount described below.In assessing the realizability of DTAs, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the DTAs will not be realized. The ultimate realization of DTAs is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities (including the impact of available carryback and carryforward periods), projected future taxable income, and tax-planning strategies in making this assessment. Based upon the level of historical taxable income and projections for future taxable income over the periods in which the DTAs are deductible, management believes it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize the benefits of these deductible differences or tax carryforwards as of September 30, 2018 except for the AMT credit carryforward.The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. The Tax Act reduced the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, effective January 1, 2018. The Tax Act repeals the AMT for corporations, and permits any existing AMT credit carryforwards to be used to reduce the regular tax obligation in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Companies may continue using AMT credits to offset any regular income tax liability in years 2018 through 2020, with 50 percent of remaining AMT credits refunded for each of the 2018, 2019 and 2020 tax years, and all remaining credits refunded in tax year 2021. This results in full realization of an existing AMT credit carryforward irrespective of future taxable income. However, as the refund is subject to a sequestration reduction rate of approximately 6.2%, we established a federal DTA valuation allowance of approximately $76,000 during the nine -month period ending September 30, 2018. Accordingly, net AMT credit carryforwards of $1.1 million and $1.2 million are reflected in other noncurrent assets in the consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. The impact of many provisions of the Tax Act lack clarity and is subject to interpretation until additional IRS guidance is issued. The ultimate impact of the Tax Act may differ from the Company’s estimates due to changes in the interpretations and assumptions made as well as any forthcoming regulatory guidance.Current accounting standards include guidance on the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the financial statements. Such standards also prescribe a recognition threshold and measurement model for the financial statement recognition of a tax position taken, or expected to be taken, and provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. The Company believes that the ultimate deductibility of all tax positions is highly certain, although there is uncertainty about the timing of such deductibility. As a result, no September 30, 2018 or December
31, 2017 and we do not expect any significant changes in the next twelve months. Should we need to accrue interest or penalties on uncertain tax positions, we would recognize the interest as interest expense and the penalties as a selling, general and administrative expense. As of September 30, 2018, tax years 2014 -2017 remained subject to examination by federal and state tax authorities.Provision for income taxes was $76,000 for the three -month period ended September 30, 2018, representing the sequestration of a portion of our AMT credit carryforwards and an effective tax rate of 2.0%. Benefit from income taxes was $776,000 for the three -month period ended September 30, 2017, representing an effective tax rate of 34.0%. The decrease in the effective rate for the three -month period ended September 30, 2018 compared with the same period in 2017 is primarily due to the corporate rate reduction of the Tax Act.As of
September 30, 2018, we had approximately $131.8 million of federal and $20.4 million of state net operating loss carryforwards, as well as approximately $9.7 million of federal R&D credit carryforwards. |