10. Income Taxes
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes consists of (in thousands):
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||
| United States | $ | (11,588 | ) | $ | (5,828 | ) | $ | (16,630 | ) | |||
| Foreign | 11,414 | 9,716 | 12,944 | |||||||||
| $ | (174 | ) | $ | 3,888 | $ | (3,686 | ) | |||||
Income tax expense (benefit) attributable to (loss) income from continuing operations consists of (in thousands):
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Federal: | ||||||||||||
| Current | $ | — | $ | 10 | $ | 1,575 | ||||||
| Deferred | — | (34 | ) | 7,348 | ||||||||
| Total | — | (24 | ) | 8,923 | ||||||||
| State: | ||||||||||||
| Current | 8 | 156 | (1,301 | ) | ||||||||
| Deferred | — | 29 | 635 | |||||||||
| Total | 8 | 185 | (666 | ) | ||||||||
| Foreign: | ||||||||||||
| Current | 2,348 | 2,810 | 3,597 | |||||||||
| Deferred | 1,062 | 48 | 1,184 | |||||||||
| Total | 3,410 | 2,858 | 4,781 | |||||||||
| $ | 3,418 | $ | 3,019 | $ | 13,038 | |||||||
Income tax expense attributable to (loss) income from continuing operations differed from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. Federal income tax rate to pretax (loss) income from continuing operations as follows (in thousands):
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||||||
| Expected federal income tax (benefit) expense | $ | (59 | ) | $ | 1,322 | $ | (1,253 | ) | ||||
| Effect of federal rate change | 5,341 | — | — | |||||||||
| Effect of change to territorial system | (4,071 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
| State income taxes, net of federal benefit | (260 | ) | 189 | (324 | ) | |||||||
| Foreign tax rates varying from 34% | (743 | ) | (638 | ) | (871 | ) | ||||||
| Change in foreign reinvestment strategy | — | 546 | 6,650 | |||||||||
| Change in valuation allowance | 3,321 | 105 | 8,856 | |||||||||
| Section 956 inclusion | — | 1,615 | — | |||||||||
| Return to provision | (49 | ) | (193 | ) | (8 | ) | ||||||
| Other | (62 | ) | 73 | (12 | ) | |||||||
| Total | $ | 3,418 | $ | 3,019 | $ | 13,038 | ||||||
Deferred tax assets and liabilities were comprised of the following (in thousands):
| December 31, 2017 | December 31, 2016 | |||||||
| Deferred tax assets: | ||||||||
| Deferred revenue | $ | 230 | $ | 1,672 | ||||
| Non-deductible accruals | 206 | 187 | ||||||
| Inventory reserves | 451 | 567 | ||||||
| Stock compensation expense | 199 | 281 | ||||||
| Warranty reserves | 138 | 204 | ||||||
| Uncollectible receivable reserves | 458 | 409 | ||||||
| Net operating losses | 9,204 | 6,397 | ||||||
| Fair value adjustment to notes receivable | 147 | 633 | ||||||
| Foreign tax credits | 1,642 | 2,960 | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 79 | 671 | ||||||
| Equity in loss of equity method investments | — | 163 | ||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive income | — | 1,685 | ||||||
| Other | 170 | — | ||||||
| Total deferred tax assets | 12,924 | 15,829 | ||||||
| Valuation allowance | (12,317 | ) | (8,550 | ) | ||||
| Net deferred tax assets after valuation allowance | 607 | 7,279 | ||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities: | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 923 | 6 | ||||||
| Cash repatriation | 1,884 | 8,958 | ||||||
| Equity in income of equity method investments | 610 | — | ||||||
| Accrued group health insurance claims | — | 66 | ||||||
| Other | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Total deferred tax liabilities | 3,423 | 9,036 | ||||||
| Net deferred tax liability | $ | (2,816 | ) | $ | (1,757 | ) | ||
In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the Company considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income. The Company considers the scheduled reversal of taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. A cumulative loss in a particular tax jurisdiction in recent years is a significant piece of evidence with respect to the realizability that is difficult to overcome. Based on the available objective evidence including recent updates to the taxing jurisdictions generating income, the Company concluded that a valuation allowance of $12.3 million and $8.6 million should be recorded against the Company’s U.S. tax jurisdiction deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Tax Act”) was signed into law in the United States. The law includes significant changes to the United States corporate income tax system, including a federal corporate rate reduction and the transition of the United States from a worldwide tax system to a territorial tax system. As part of the transition to a territorial tax system, the 2017 Tax Act requires taxpayers to calculate a one-time transition tax based on the deemed repatriation of undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries. The Company is currently analyzing the 2017 Tax Act, and in certain areas, has made provisional estimates of the effects on our consolidated financial statements and tax disclosures, including the amount of the repatriation tax and changes to existing deferred tax balances.
The one-time transition tax is based primarily on the Company’s accumulated foreign earnings and profits that were previously deferred from U.S. income taxes. No additional U.S. federal income taxes have been provided as all accumulated earnings of foreign subsidiaries are deemed to have been remitted as part of the one-time transition tax. After applying foreign tax credits, the Company estimates its tax liability related to the one-time transition tax to be zero. The Company has recorded a deferred tax liability of $1.9 million at December 31, 2017 related to withholding tax on earnings from its Canadian subsidiary. Due to the full valuation allowance recorded against the U.S. tax jurisdiction deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2017, the net income tax expense related to the one-time transition tax is zero.
The decrease in the U.S. Federal corporate income tax rate resulted in a decrease in the future expected benefit of the Company’s U.S. deferred tax assets. However, due to the full valuation allowance recorded against the U.S. tax jurisdiction deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2017, the net income tax expense recorded related to the change in the corporate tax rate was zero.
The tax effect of the Company’s net operating loss carryforwards for Federal and state tax purposes total approximately $9.2 million at December 31, 2017, expiring at various times in 2033 through 2037. The Company has foreign tax credit carryforwards of approximately $1.6 million at December 31, 2017 that expire at various times in 2024 through 2025.
The Company is subject to possible examinations not yet initiated for Federal purposes for fiscal years 2014, 2015 and 2016. In most cases, the Company has examinations open for state or local jurisdictions based on the particular jurisdiction’s statute of limitations.
Estimated amounts related to underpayment of income taxes, including interest and penalties, are classified as a component of income tax expense in the consolidated statements of operations and were not material for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. Amounts accrued for estimated underpayment of income taxes were zero as of December 31, 2017 and 2016.