NOTE 17.  INCOME TAXES 

 

Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method.  Deferred income tax assets and liabilities 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.  Deferred income tax assets and liabilities 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 deferred income tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.  The Company is subject to income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions which creates deferred tax assets and liabilities in these jurisdictions.  The Company has netted these deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities by jurisdiction.  Deferred income tax assets are reviewed for recoverability and valuation allowances are provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset is not realizable in the future.

 

Tax positions are recognized in the financial statements when it is more-likely-than-not that the position will be sustained upon examination by the tax authorities.  As of December 31, 2014, the Company had no uncertain tax positions that qualify for either recognition or disclosure in the financial statements.  The Company conducts its business globally.  As a result, the Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions, and are subject to examination for the open tax years in the U.S. federal and state jurisdictions of 2011-2013 and in the foreign jurisdictions of 2005-2013.

 

The Company’s foreign operations that are considered to be permanently reinvested have statutory tax rates of approximately 19% - 38%.

 

The Company recognizes interest expense and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense.  No amounts were recorded related to interest expense and penalties related to income tax matters by the Company during the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.

 

Consolidated loss from continuing operations before income taxes consists of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes consist of the following:

 

 

 

 

The allocation of income tax expense was as follows:

 

 

 

During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company’s deferred foreign benefit for income taxes included a benefit of $1,025 related to changes in enacted foreign statutory tax rates.

 

The following is a reconciliation of the normal expected statutory federal income tax rate to the effective rate reported in the Company’s financial statements:

 

 

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial reporting carrying amounts and tax bases of existing assets and liabilities and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.  Significant components of the Company’s existing deferred income tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 are as follows:

 

 

As of December 31, 2014, the Company’s gross deferred tax asset was $73,465.  The Company has recorded a valuation allowance of $16,081, resulting in a net deferred tax asset of $57,384, before deferred tax liabilities of $21,644.  The Company has provided a valuation allowance against a portion of the net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2014, because the ultimate realization of those assets does not meet the more likely than not criteria.

 

In assessing the realizability of deferred income tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred income tax assets will not be realized.  The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible and net operating loss and credit carryforwards expire.  In order to utilize the recorded U.S. deferred tax assets the Company will need to generate approximately $137,000 of future U.S. taxable income, of which approximately $117,000 will need to be generated by 2022 to utilize the net operating losses that management considers realizable.  The estimates and judgments associated with the Company’s valuation allowance on deferred tax assets are considered critical due to the amount of deferred tax assets recorded by the Company on its consolidated balance sheet and the judgment required in determining the Company’s future taxable income.  The Company’s conclusion that the deferred tax assets are more likely than not to be realized reflects, among other things, its ability to generate taxable income to utilize the available net operating loss and credit carryforwards.  The ability of the Company to generate taxable income and meet management’s projections of future taxable income are dependent upon the growth of U.S. based sales, including apparel sales; the maintaining of gross margins and the controlling of other operating expenses in order to increase the U.S. based taxable income; and/or the execution of certain tax planning strategies available to the Company in the future.  While the Company believes that its estimate of future taxable income is reasonable, it is inherently uncertain.  If the Company’s taxable income does not grow as management currently projects over an extended time period, or if the Company realizes unforeseen significant losses in the future, additions to the valuation allowance which reduce the deferred tax assets could be recorded.  Moreover, because the majority of the Company’s deferred tax assets consist of net operating loss carryforwards for federal tax purposes, if change in control events occur which could limit the availability of the net operating loss carryforwards under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (“Code”), as amended, additions to the valuation allowance which would reduce the deferred tax assets could also be recorded.  Management has provided a valuation allowance against some of the net deferred income tax assets as of December 31, 2014, because the ultimate realization of those benefits and assets does not meet the more likely than not criteria.

 

 

The net change in the valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets was $1,039,  $490, and $894 during the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively.    A roll forward of our valuation allowance for deferred income tax assets for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012 is as follows:

 

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2014, the Company had net operating loss, research and experimentation credit and alternative minimum tax credit carryforwards for U.S. federal income tax purposes of $167,303 ($294 relates to excess tax benefits related to share based payment compensation, which will not be realized until an income tax payable exists), $1,337 and $56, respectively.  The Company believes its U.S. Federal net operating loss (“NOL”) will substantially offset its future U.S. Federal income taxes, excluding the amount subject to U.S. Federal Alternative Minimum Tax (“AMT”).  AMT is calculated as 20% of AMT income.  For purposes of AMT, a maximum of 90% of income is offset by available NOLs.  The majority of the Company’s pre-tax income is currently earned and expected to be earned in the U.S., or taxed in the U.S. as Subpart F. income and will be offset with the NOL.

 

NOLs available to offset taxable income, subject to compliance with Section 382 of the Code, begin to expired based upon the following schedule: