Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

17. INCOME TAXES

Our income tax expense aggregated $28,174 and $461,620 (amounting to 2% and 25% of our loss before income taxes, respectively) for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards of $11,949,860 of which $10,237,953 does not expire and $1,711,907 expires in 2034 through 2037 (if not utilized before then) and state net operating loss carryforwards of $3,299,929 that expire in 2037 through 2038 (if not utilized before then). Additionally, we had federal general business tax credit carryforwards of $434,838 that expire in 2027 through 2039 (if not utilized before then) and state tax credit carryforwards of $763,350 that expire in 2023 through 2039 (if not utilized before then).

The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Under this approach, deferred taxes represent the estimated future tax effects of temporary differences between book and tax treatment of assets and liabilities and carryforwards to the extent they are realizable. During the second quarter of 2018, we assessed our historical and near-term future profitability and recorded $563,252 in non-cash income tax expense to create a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets (which consist largely of net operating loss carryforwards and federal and state credits) based on applicable accounting standards and practices. At that time, we had incurred a net loss for six consecutive quarters, had not been profitable on a year-to-date basis since the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017 and projected additional net losses for some period going forward before returning to profitability. Should future profitability be realized at an adequate level, we would be able to release this valuation allowance (resulting in a non-cash income tax benefit) and realize these deferred tax assets before they expire. We will continue to assess the need for the valuation allowance at each quarter and, in the event that actual results differ from these estimates, or we adjust these estimates in future periods, we may need to adjust our valuation allowance. No subsequent adjustments were recorded.

Net operating loss carryforwards, credits, and other tax attributes are subject to review and possible adjustment by the Internal Revenue Service. Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code contains provisions that could place annual limitations on the future utilization of net operating loss carryforwards and credits in the event of a change in ownership of the Company, as defined.

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and several state jurisdictions. We currently have no tax examinations in progress. We also have not paid additional taxes, interest or penalties as a result of tax examinations nor do we have any unrecognized tax benefits for any of the periods in the accompanying financial statements.

The income tax provision consisted of the following:

	During the Year Ended December 31,
	2019			2018
Current
Federal	$	—		$	—
State		3,490			(820	)
Current subtotal		3,490			(820	)
Deferred
Federal		(240,458	)		(274,495	)
State		(31,205	)		(504,072	)
Deferred subtotal, gross		(271,663	)		(778,567	)
Valuation allowance		296,347			1,241,007
Deferred subtotal, net		24,684			462,440
Income tax expense	$	28,174		$	461,620

The actual income tax expense differs from the expected tax computed by applying the U.S. federal corporate tax rate of 21% to the loss before income taxes during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 respectively, as follows:

	During the Year Ended December 31,
	2019						2018
	$			%			$			%
Computed expected income tax expense rate	$	(266,157	)		(21.00	)%	$	(390,610	)		(21.00	)%
State income taxes, net of federal expense		(21,894	)		(1.73	)		136,843			7.36
Share-based compensation		37,811			2.98			67,181			3.61
Tax credits		(27,815	)		(2.19	)		(602,813	)		(32.41	)
Valuation allowance		296,347			23.38			1,241,007			66.72
Other		9,882			0.78			10,012			0.54
Income tax expense/rate	$	28,174			2.22	%	$	461,620			24.82	%

The significant components of our deferred tax assets, net, consisted of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2019			2018
Product rights	$	6,709		$	14,226
Property, plant and equipment		(2,306,435	)		(2,534,799	)
Federal general business tax credits		434,838			407,023
Federal net operating loss carryforwards		2,509,471			2,486,263
State tax credits carryover		841,558			845,967
Interest rate swaps		14,632			(10,052	)
Prepaid expenses and other		(12,070	)		13,354
UNICAP		16,756			19,025
Incentive compensation		31,895			—
Valuation allowance		(1,537,354	)		(1,241,007	)
Deferred tax assets, net	$	—		$	—