Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

8. Income Taxes

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not record an income tax provision due to the losses incurred and a full valuation allowance provided on the net deferred tax assets.

A reconciliation of the federal statutory income tax rate to the effective tax rate is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021			2020
Taxes at U.S. statutory rate		21.0	%		21.0	%
Changes from statutory rate:
State taxes, net of federal benefit		8.3	%		7.8	%
Tax credits		4.1	%		3.8	%
Share-based compensation		-1.0	%		-0.3	%
Change in valuation allowance		-32.4	%		-32.3	%
Effective income tax rate		0.0	%		0.0	%

Deferred tax assets and liabilities reflect the net tax effects of net operating loss carryovers and temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021			2020
Deferred tax assets:
Net operating loss carryforwards	$	18,742		$	4,755
Tax credits		5,319			2,087
Deferred revenue		3,526			5,312
Depreciation and amortization		411			105
Amortization		571			617
Stock-based compensation		99			40
Leasehold liability		1,651			2,031
Other		688			664
Total deferred tax assets		31,007			15,611
Deferred tax liabilities:
Right of use Asset		(1,500	)		(1,878	)
Valuation allowance		(29,507	)		(13,733	)
Net deferred tax assets and liabilities	$	-		$	-

In determining the need for a valuation allowance, the Company has given consideration to its cumulative losses. The Company has assessed the available means of recovering deferred tax assets, including the ability to carryback net operating losses, the existence of reversing taxable temporary differences, the availability of tax planning strategies and forecasted future taxable income. The Company maintains a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets. The valuation allowance increased by $15.8 and $8.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $69.1 million. The U.S. federal net operating losses have an indefinite life carryforward. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had Massachusetts net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $66.9 million that expire at various dates through 2041. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had U.S. R&D federal credit carryforwards of approximately $3.5 million that expire at various dates through 2040. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had U.S. state R&D tax credit carryforwards of approximately $2.3 million that expire at various dates through 2036.

Under Sections 382 and 383 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, if a corporation undergoes an ownership change, the corporation's ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change attributes, such as net operating losses and research tax credits, to offset its post-change income and taxes may be limited. In general, an ownership change generally occurs if there is a cumulative change in ownership by 5% stockholders that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under U.S. state tax laws. The Company may have experienced an ownership change in the past and may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of future transactions in its share capital, some of which may be outside the control of the Company. As a result, if the Company earns net taxable income, its ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards, or other pre-change tax attributes, to offset U.S. federal and state taxable income and taxes may be subject to significant limitations.

The Company accounted for uncertain tax positions using a more likely than not threshold for recognizing and resolving uncertain tax positions. The evaluation of uncertain tax positions is based on factors that include, but are not limited to, changes in tax law, the

measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in tax returns, the effective settlement of matters subject to audit, new audit activity and changes in facts or circumstances related to a tax position. The Company evaluates uncertain tax positions on an annual basis and adjusts the level of the liability to reflect any subsequent changes in the relevant facts surrounding the uncertain positions. The Company accounts for interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as part of its provision for income taxes. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were no accrued interest or penalties in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company is subject to taxation for federal and Massachusetts purposes. As of December 31, 2021, the Company is subject to examination by these taxing authorities for all years since inception.