Note 15 - Statutory Reserves

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Statutory Reserves [Abstract]

Statutory Reserves [Text Block]

Note 15 - Statutory Reserves

As a U.S. holding company, the Company’s ability to pay dividends is primarily dependent on the Company receiving distributions of funds from its subsidiaries. Relevant PRC statutory laws and regulations permit payments of dividends by the Company’s PRC subsidiaries, Nova Dongguan, Nova Macao and Ding Nuo, only out of the subsidiary’s retained earnings, if any, as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. The results of operations reflected in the financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP differ from those reflected in the statutory financial statements of the Company’s PRC subsidiaries. Pursuant to the corporate laws of the PRC and Macao, including the PRC Regulations on Enterprises with Foreign Investment, Nova Dongguan, Nova Macao and Ding Nuo are only required to maintain one statutory reserve by appropriating from after-tax profit before declaration or payment of dividends. The statutory reserve represents restricted retained earnings. As a result of the PRC laws and regulations described below that require such annual appropriations of 10% of after-tax income to be set aside prior to payment of dividends as a general statutory reserve fund, the Company’s PRC subsidiaries are restricted in their ability to transfer a portion of their net assets to the Company as a dividend.

Surplus Reserve Fund

Nova Dongguan and Ding Nuo are required to transfer 10% of net income, as determined under PRC accounting rules and regulations, to a statutory surplus reserve fund until such reserve balance reaches 50% of the subsidiary’s registered capital. The surplus reserve fund is non-distributable other than during liquidation and can be used to fund previous years’ losses, if any, and may be utilized for business expansion or converted into share capital by issuing new shares to existing shareholders in proportion to their shareholdings or by increasing the par value of the shares currently held by them, provided that the remaining reserve balance after such issuance is not less than 25% of the registered capital.

At June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, Nova Macao had surplus reserves of $6,241, representing 50% of its registered capital. Nova Dongguan and Ding Nuo did not make any transfer to surplus reserves due to their accumulated deficit.

Common Welfare Fund

The common welfare fund is a voluntary fund to which Nova Dongguan, Ding Nuo and Nova Macao can each elect to transfer 5% to 10% of its net income. This fund can only be utilized on capital items for the collective benefit of the subsidiary’s employees, such as construction of dormitories, cafeteria facilities, and other staff welfare facilities. This fund is non-distributable other than upon liquidation. Nova Dongguan, Nova Macao and Ding Nuo do not participate in this voluntary fund.