Note 9. INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 9. INCOME TAXES

The income tax provision (benefit) is based on the following pre-tax income (loss):

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012
	(Amounts in Thousands)
Domestic	$	(1,460	)	$	(12,976	)
Foreign		(21	)		(2,111	)
Total	$	(1,481	)	$	(15,087	)

The income tax provision (benefit) consists of the following:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2013		2012
	(Amounts in Thousands)
Current tax provision:
Federal	$	-	$	-
State		21		19
Total provision	$	21	$	19
Total provision	$	21	$	19

Actual income taxes reported from continuing operations are different than what would have been computed by applying the federal statutory tax rate to income from continuing operations before income taxes.  The reasons for this difference are as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2013			2012
	(Amounts in Thousands)
Benefit from income taxes at statutory rate	$	(501	)	$	(5,280	)
State income taxes, net of federal benefit		14			12
Net operating losses adjustments		(18	)		(112	)
Valuation allowance adjustments		187			5,344
Permanent items		8			17
Reduction of tax reserves		332			-
Other, net		(1	)		38
Net provision for income taxes	$	21		$	19

The significant components of the Company’s deferred income tax liabilities and assets are as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2013			2012
	(Amounts in Thousands)
Deferred tax liabilities
Inventory costs	$	(642	)	$	(514	)
Deferred tax assets
Allowance for doubtful receivables	$	67		$	14
Accrued expenses and other items		5,049			9,354
Difference between book and tax bases of property		(292	)		(879	)
Operating loss carry-forwards - domestic		62,068			58,179
Operating loss carry-forwards - foreign		2,663			2,240
Tax credit carry-forwards		12,967			13,299
		82,522			82,207
Less valuation allowance		(81,880	)		(81,693	)
		642			514
Net deferred income tax asset	$	-		$	-

At December 31, 2013, the Company had approximately $165.6 million of Federal net operating loss carry-forwards (“Federal NOLs”), which will expire in years 2020 through 2033 if not utilized prior to that time.  The remainder of the Company’s domestic and foreign net operating loss carry-forwards relate to certain U.S. operating subsidiaries, and the Company’s Canadian operations, respectively, and can only be used to offset income from these operations.  At December 31, 2013, the Company’s Canadian subsidiary has Canadian net operating loss carry-forwards of approximately $7.8 million that will expire in 2028 through 2033.  The tax credit carry-forwards relate to United States federal minimum tax credits of $1.2 million that have no expiration date, general business credits of $0.1 million that expire in years 2020 through 2022, and foreign tax credit carryovers of $11.7 million that expire in years 2014 through 2017.

Valuation allowances are recorded when it is considered more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.  A history of operating losses incurred by the domestic and foreign subsidiaries provides significant negative evidence with respect to the Company’s ability to generate future taxable income, a requirement in order to recognize deferred tax assets.  For this reason, the Company was unable to conclude that it was more likely than not that certain deferred tax assets would be utilized in the future.  The valuation allowance relates to federal, state and foreign net operating loss carry-forwards, foreign and domestic tax credits, and certain other deferred tax assets to the extent they exceed deferred tax liabilities.

Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balance for liabilities associated with unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (amounts in thousands):

Balances at December 31, 2011	$	109
Tax positions related to prior years		-
Reductions for tax positions related to prior years		-
Lapse of applicable statute of limitations		-
Balances at December 31, 2012		109
Tax positions related to prior years		-
Reductions for tax positions related to prior years		-
Lapse of applicable statute of limitations		-
Balances at December 31, 2013	$	109

At December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company had reserves totaling $0.1 million, primarily for various foreign income tax issues all of which, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties accrued related to the unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes.  During 2013 and 2012, the Company recognized an insignificant amount in interest and penalties.  The Company had approximately $25,000 for the payment of interest and penalties accrued at December 31, 2013 and 2012.

The Company believes that it is reasonably possible that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will change within the next twelve months.  The Company has certain tax return years subject to statutes of limitation which will close within the next twelve months.  Unless challenged by tax authorities, the closure of those statutes of limitation is expected to result in the recognition of uncertain tax positions in the amount of $0.1 million.

Examination of Tax Returns

The Company and its subsidiaries file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, various states and foreign jurisdictions.  The Company and its subsidiaries are generally no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local examinations by tax authorities for years before 2009.