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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

NOTE 9 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company has minimum commitments related to the Company’s license agreements and endorsement agreements with brand ambassadors, and also includes service agreements. The Company sources, distributes, advertises and sells watches and jewelry pursuant to its exclusive license agreements with unaffiliated licensors. Royalty amounts under the license agreements are generally based on a stipulated percentage of revenues, although most of these agreements contain provisions for the payment of minimum annual royalty amounts. The license agreements have various terms, and some have renewal options, provided that minimum sales levels are achieved. Additionally, the license agreements require the Company to pay minimum annual advertising amounts.

 

The Company believes that income tax reserves are adequate; however, amounts asserted by taxing authorities could be greater or less than amounts accrued and reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Accordingly, the Company could record adjustments to the amounts for federal, state, and foreign liabilities in the future as the Company revises estimates or settles or otherwise resolves the underlying matters. In the ordinary course of business, the Company may take new positions that could increase or decrease unrecognized tax benefits in future periods.

 

In December 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“U.S. Customs”) issued an audit report concerning the methodology used by the Company to allocate the cost of certain watch styles imported into the U.S. among the component parts of those watches for tariff purposes. The report disputed the reasonableness of the Company’s historical allocation formulas and proposed an alternative methodology that would imply $5.1 million in underpaid duties for all imports that entered the United States during the audit period which extended from August 1, 2011 through July 15, 2016, plus possible penalties and interest. Although the Company believes that U.S. Customs’ alternative duty methodology and estimate were not consistent with the Company’s facts and circumstances and consistently disputed U.S. Customs’ position, the Company previously established reserves for a portion of the alleged underpayment indicated in the audit report. Between February 2017 and January 2021, the Company made numerous submissions to U.S. Customs containing supplemental analyses and information in response to U.S. Customs’ information requests. On May 1, 2023, the statute of limitations lapsed with respect to all entries encompassed by the audit period. As a result, during the second quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company released the reserves that it had established in respect of those entries.

 

The Company is involved in legal proceedings and claims from time to time, in the ordinary course of its business. Legal reserves are recorded in accordance with the accounting guidance for contingencies. Contingencies are inherently unpredictable and it is possible that results of operations, balance sheets or cash flows could be materially and adversely affected in any particular period by unfavorable developments in, or resolution or disposition of, such matters. For those legal proceedings and claims for which the Company believes that it is probable that a reasonably estimable loss may result, the Company records a reserve for the potential loss. For proceedings and claims where the Company believes it is reasonably possible that a loss may result that is materially in excess of amounts accrued for the matter, the Company either discloses an estimate of such possible loss or range of loss or includes a statement that such an estimate cannot be made. As of October 31, 2024, the Company is party to legal proceedings and contingencies, the resolution of which is not expected to materially affect its financial condition, future results of operations beyond the amounts accrued, or cash flows.