NOTE 6 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, the Company and its subsidiaries are subject to legal proceedings, claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business related to the Company’s operations and property ownership. The Company evaluates such matters on a case by case basis, and vigorously contests any such legal proceedings or claims which the Company believes are without merit. The Company establishes an accrual for legal proceedings if and when those matters reach a stage where they present loss contingencies that are both probable and reasonably estimable. In such cases, there may be a possible exposure to loss in excess of any amounts accrued. The Company monitors those matters for developments that would affect the likelihood of a loss and the accrued amount, if any, thereof, and adjusts the amount as appropriate. If the loss contingency at issue is not both probable and reasonably estimable, the Company does not establish an accrual, but will continue to monitor the matter for developments that will make the loss contingency both probable and reasonably estimable. If it is at least a reasonable possibility that a material loss will occur, the Company will provide disclosure regarding the contingency. The Company believes that the final disposition of the pending legal proceedings, claims and litigation will not have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or liquidity. It is possible, however, that the Company's results of operations for a particular quarter or fiscal year could be impacted by changes in circumstances relating to such matters.

Taxes

Income Taxes – The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method. Under the asset and liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributed to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences and carry-forwards are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance is established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to amounts expected to be realized.

The Company has historically applied foreign tax credits, generated from taxes withheld on certain payments PriceSmart receives from its foreign subsidiaries, to reduce U.S. income tax liabilities. However, as an incidental result of U.S. tax reform, following the reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%, the Company expects foreign tax credits generated to exceed U.S. income tax liabilities for the foreseeable future. Therefore, as of February 28, 2019, the Company has recorded a valuation allowance of $1.0 million against its foreign tax credits.

The Company is required to file federal and state tax returns in the United States and various other tax returns in foreign jurisdictions. The preparation of these tax returns requires the Company to interpret the applicable tax laws and regulations in effect in such jurisdictions, which could affect the amount of tax paid by the Company. The Company, in consultation with its tax advisors, bases its tax returns on interpretations that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The tax returns, however, are subject to routine reviews by the various taxing authorities in the jurisdictions in which the Company files its returns. As part of these reviews, a taxing authority may disagree with respect to the interpretations the Company used to calculate its tax liability and therefore require the Company to pay additional taxes.

The Company accrues an amount for its estimate of probable additional income tax liability. In certain cases, the impact of an uncertain income tax position on the income tax return must be recognized at the largest amount that is more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant tax authority. An uncertain income tax position will not be recognized if it has less than 50% likelihood of being sustained. There were no significant changes in the Company's uncertain income tax positions since August 31, 2018.

In evaluating the exposure associated with various non-income tax filing positions, the Company accrues for probable and estimable exposures for non-income tax related tax contingencies. As of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018, the Company has recorded within other accrued expenses a total of $3.1 million and 3.0 million, respectively, for various non-income tax related tax contingencies.

While the Company believes the recorded liabilities are adequate, there are inherent limitations in projecting the outcome of litigation, in estimating probable additional income tax liability taking into account uncertain tax positions and in evaluating the probable additional tax associated with various non-income tax filing positions. As such, the Company is unable to make a reasonable estimate of the sensitivity to change of estimates affecting its recorded liabilities. As additional information becomes available, the Company assesses the potential liability and revises its estimates as appropriate.

The Company has various appeals pending before tax courts in its subsidiaries' jurisdictions. Any possible settlement could increase or decrease earnings but is not expected to be significant. Audit outcomes and the timing of audit settlements are subject to significant uncertainty. One of the Company’s subsidiaries received assessments claiming $2.5 million of taxes, penalties and interest related to withholding taxes on certain charges for services rendered by the Company. In addition, this subsidiary received assessments totaling $5.5 million for lack of deductibility of the underlying service charges due to the lack of withholding. Based on a review of the Company's tax advisers' interpretation of local law, rulings and jurisprudence (including Supreme Court precedents with respect to the deductibility assessment), the Company expects to prevail in both instances and has not recorded a provision for these assessments. However, the Company had to submit $2.5 million as advance payments to the government while it appeals.

In another country in which the Company has warehouse clubs, beginning in fiscal year 2015, a new minimum income tax mechanism took effect, which requires the Company to pay taxes based on a percentage of sales rather than income. As a result, the Company is making income tax payments substantially in excess of those it would expect to pay based on taxable income. The current rules (which the Company has challenged in court) do not clearly allow the Company to obtain a refund or to offset this excess income tax against other taxes. As of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018, the Company had deferred tax assets of approximately $2.2 million and $2.1 million in this country, respectively. Also, the Company had an income tax receivable balance of $7.0 million and $7.1 million as of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018, respectively, related to excess payments from fiscal years 2015 to 2019. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, a revised minimum tax law was passed in this country, which beginning in fiscal 2020 will reduce the minimum tax rate. Additionally, this law clarifies rules on a going-forward basis for reimbursement of excess minimum tax paid beginning in fiscal year 2019, but does not address periods prior to fiscal year 2019. Nevertheless, the Company has not placed any type of allowance on the recoverability of these tax receivables or deferred tax assets, because the Company believes that it is more likely than not that it will succeed in its refund request and/or court challenge on this matter.

Other Commitments

The Company is committed under non-cancelable operating leases for the rental of facilities and land. Future minimum lease commitments for facilities under these leases with an initial term in excess of one year are as follows (in thousands):



	Open
Years ended February 28,	Locations(1)
2020	$	13,383
2021		12,176
2022		11,178
2023		11,595
2024		11,611
Thereafter		129,875
Total	$	189,818	(2)

⁽¹⁾

Operating lease obligations have been reduced by approximately $2.8 million to reflect sub-lease income. Certain obligations under leasing arrangements are collateralized by the underlying asset being leased.

⁽²⁾

Future minimum lease payments include $2.0 million of lease payment obligations for the prior leased Miami distribution center. For the purposes of calculating the minimum lease payments, a reduction is reflected for the actual sub-lease income the Company expects to receive during the remaining lease term. This sub-lease income was also considered, for the purposes of calculating the exit obligation, which was immaterial as of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018.

In January 2017, the Company purchased a distribution center in Medley, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Company transferred its Miami dry distribution center activities that were previously in the leased facility to the new facility during the third quarter of fiscal year 2017. As of February 28, 2019, all of the vacated space has been subleased (and/or returned to the landlord). As part of the subleases the Company provided the landlord of the leased facility a letter of credit (“LOC”) for the initial amount of $500,000 which entitled the landlord to draw on the LOC based on a decreasing scale over four years, if certain conditions occur related to nonpayment by the new tenant. The balance of this LOC decreases at an annual rate of $125,000 starting in August 2018. As of February 28, 2019, the remaining balance of the LOC was $375,000. Although this agreement is considered a guarantee, in measuring the fair value, the Company considers the risk and probability of default by the third party tenant as not likely nor probable based on the Company’s review of the third party tenant’s financial position as well as the third party’s considerable capital investment into the leased facility. Therefore, the Company has not recorded a liability for this guarantee.

The Company is also committed to non-cancelable construction services obligations for various warehouse club developments and expansions. As of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018, the Company had approximately $18.8 million and $10.6 million, respectively, in contractual obligations for construction services not yet rendered.

The Company has entered into land purchase option agreements that have not been recorded as commitments, for which the Company has recorded within restricted cash and deposits as of February 28, 2019 and August 31, 2018 approximately $4.4 million and $400,000, respectively. The Company’s land purchase option agreements are typically subject to various conditions, including, but not limited to, the ability to obtain necessary governmental permits or approvals. A deposit under an agreement is typically returned to the Company if all permits or approvals are not obtained. Generally, the Company has the right to cancel any of our agreements to purchase land without cause by forfeiture of some or all of the deposits we have made pursuant to the agreement. The Company does not have a timetable of when or if it will exercise these land purchase options, due to the uncertainty related to the completion of the Company's due diligence reviews. The Company's due diligence reviews include evaluations of the legal status of each property, the zoning and permitting issues related to acquiring approval for the construction and operation of a warehouse club and any other issues related to the property itself that could render the property unsuitable or limit the property's economic viability as a warehouse club site. If the purchase option agreements are exercised, the cash use would be approximately $52.1 million.

The table below summarizes the Company’s interest in real estate joint ventures, commitments to additional future investments and the Company’s maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement in these joint venture as of February 28, 2019 (in thousands):



Entity	% Ownership		Initial Investment		Additional Investments		Net (Loss)/Income Inception to Date		Company’s Variable Interest in Entity		Commitment to Future Additional Investments(1)		Company's Maximum Exposure to Loss in Entity(2)
GolfPark Plaza, S.A.	50	%	$	4,616	$	2,402	$	201	$	7,219	$	99	$	7,318
Price Plaza Alajuela PPA, S.A.	50	%		2,193		1,236		66		3,495		785		4,280
Total			$	6,809	$	3,638	$	267	$	10,714	$	884	$	11,598

⁽¹⁾

The parties intend to seek alternate financing for the project, which could reduce the amount of investments each party would be required to provide. The parties may mutually agree on changes to the project, which could increase or decrease the amount of contributions each party is required to provide.

⁽²⁾

The maximum exposure is determined by adding the Company’s variable interest in the entity and any explicit or implicit arrangements that could require the Company to provide additional financial support.

The Company contracts for distribution center services in Mexico and for off-site data recovery services, as part of its disaster recovery plan. Future minimum service commitments related to both these contracts are not material.