INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

NOTE 10 – INCOME TAXES

For financial reporting purposes, income before taxes includes the following components:

	2018			2017			2016
United States		(132,617,160	)		(76,925,380	)		(89,875,459	)
Total		(132,617,160	)		(76,925,380	)		(89,875,459	)

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, there was no provision for income taxes, current or deferred. At December 31, 2018, we had a federal net operating loss carry forward of approximately $481,365,550. Approximately $338,668,076 of the federal net operating loss carry forward can be carried forward for 20 years and will begin to expire in 2031.  The remaining $142,697,474 can be carried forward indefinitely.

A reconciliation between taxes computed at the federal statutory rate and the consolidated effective tax rate is as follows:

	2018			2017			2016
Federal statutory tax rate		21.0	%		34.0	%		34.0	%
State tax rate, net of federal tax benefit		5.2	%		5.0	%		5.4	%
Adjustment in valuation allowances		(31.2	)%		22.6	%		(40.3	)%
Excess stock benefit		5.3	%		0.0	%		0.0	%
Federal income tax rate change		0.0	%		(60.8	)%		—	%
Permanent and other differences		(0.3	)%		(0.8	)%		0.9	%
Provision (benefit) for income taxes		—			—			—

Deferred income taxes result from temporary differences between the amount of assets and liabilities recognized for financial reporting and tax purposes. The components of the net deferred income tax asset as of December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016 are as follows:

	2018			2017			2016
Deferred Income Tax Assets:
Net operating losses	$	140,891,764		$	99,596,321		$	111,730,450
R&D Credit		186,347			186,347			186,347
Total deferred income tax asset		141,078,111			99,782,668			111,916,797
Valuation allowance		(141,078,111	)		(99,782,668	)		(111,916,797	)
Deferred income tax assets, net	$	—		$	—		$	—

We believe that it is more likely than not that we will not generate sufficient future taxable income to realize the tax benefits related to the deferred tax assets on our balance sheet and as such, a valuation allowance has been established against the deferred tax assets for the period ended December 31, 2018.

Unrecognized Tax Benefits

As of the period ended December 31, 2018, we have no unrecognized tax benefits.

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. federal government enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the Tax Act. The Tax Act makes broad and complex changes to the U.S. federal tax code, including, but not limited to reducing the U.S. federal corporate tax rate from 34 percent to 21 percent, effective January 1, 2018. As the result of our initial analysis of the impact of the Tax Act, we recorded a provisional amount of net tax expense of $46.7 million in 2017 related to the remeasurement of our deferred tax balances and other effects. We completed our accounting for the income tax effects of the Tax Act in 2018, and no material adjustments were required to the provisional amounts initially recorded.