Note 10. Income Taxes

The Company calculates its interim income tax provision in accordance with ASC 270, “Interim Reporting,” and ASC 740 “Accounting for Income Taxes” (together, “ASC 740”). At the end of each interim period, the Company estimates its annual effective tax rate and applies that rate to its ordinary quarterly earnings to calculate the tax related to ordinary income. The tax effects for other items that are excluded from ordinary income are discretely calculated and recognized in the period in which they occur.

The realization of deferred tax assets, including loss and credit carryforwards, is subject to the Company generating sufficient taxable income during the periods in which the deferred tax assets become realizable. Due to the Company’s improved profitability in 2015 and 2016, combined with future projections of profitability, the Company determined that the majority of its U.S. deferred tax assets were more likely than not to be realized and reversed a significant portion of the valuation allowance against those deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2016. The remaining valuation allowance on the Company’s U.S. deferred tax assets as of March 31, 2017 primarily relates to state net operating loss carryforwards and credits the Company estimates it may not be able to utilize in future periods. With respect to non-U.S. entities, there continues to be sufficient positive evidence to conclude that realization of its deferred tax assets is more likely than not under applicable accounting rules, and therefore no significant valuation allowances have been established.

The income tax provision for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 was $13,206,000 and $1,401,000, respectively. The increase was primarily due to the recognition of income tax expense on the Company’s U.S. operations during the first quarter of 2017 as a result of the reversal of a significant portion of the valuation allowance on the Company's deferred tax assets in the U.S in the fourth quarter of 2016. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company's full valuation allowance established against the Company's U.S. deferred tax assets resulted in minimal U.S. tax expense recorded for the quarter.

At March 31, 2017, the gross liability for income taxes associated with uncertain tax positions was $8,512,000. Of this amount, $1,337,000 would benefit the Company’s consolidated condensed financial statements and effective income tax rate if favorably settled. The unrecognized tax benefit liabilities are expected to decrease by approximately $150,000 during the next 12 months. The gross liability for uncertain tax positions increased by $256,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The increase was primarily due to increases for tax positions expected to be taken in the current tax year.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. For the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company's provision for income taxes includes expense of $47,000 and a benefit of $24,000, respectively, related to the recognition of interest and penalties. As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the gross amount of accrued interest and penalties included in income taxes payable in the accompanying consolidated condensed balance sheets was $1,364,000 and $1,317,000, respectively.

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state and foreign jurisdictions. The Company is generally no longer subject to income tax examinations by tax authorities in the following major jurisdictions:



Tax Jurisdiction		Years No Longer Subject to Audit
U.S. federal		2010 and prior
California (United States)		2008 and prior
Canada		2009 and prior
Japan		2009 and prior
South Korea		2011 and prior
United Kingdom		2012 and prior

Pursuant to Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, use of the Company's net operating losses and credit carry-forwards may be limited significantly if the Company were to experience a cumulative change in ownership of the Company's stock by “5-percent shareholders” that exceeds 50% over a rolling three-year period. The Company does not believe there has been a cumulative change in ownership in excess of 50% during any rolling three-year period, and the Company continues to monitor changes in its ownership. If such a cumulative change did occur in any three-year period and the Company were limited in the amount of losses it could use to offset taxable income, the Company's results of operations and cash flows could be adversely impacted.