11. Income Taxes
The Company’s provision for income tax expense (benefit) is comprised of the following:
| Years ended December 31, | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||
| Current: | ||||||||
| Federal | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
| State | 27 | 9 | ||||||
| 27 | 9 | |||||||
| Deferred: | ||||||||
| Federal | — | — | ||||||
| State | — | — | ||||||
| — | — | |||||||
| Total | $ | 27 | $ | 9 | ||||
Variations from the federal statutory rate are as follows:
| Years ended December 31, | ||||||||
| (in thousands) | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||
| Expected federal income tax expense (benefit) at statutory rate of 35% | $ | (8,845 | ) | $ | (3,769 | ) | ||
| Effect of permanent other differences | 4,755 | (2,031 | ) | |||||
| Effect of valuation allowance | (1,665 | ) | 7,576 | |||||
| Other | 6,173 | (906 | ) | |||||
| State income tax expense (benefit), net of federal benefit | (391 | ) | (861 | ) | ||||
| $ | 27 | $ | 9 | |||||
Deferred income taxes reflect net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. The components of the net accumulated deferred income tax assets shown on a gross basis as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 are as follows:
| (in thousands) | 2016 | 2015 | ||||||
| Deferred tax assets (liabilities) | ||||||||
| Current: | ||||||||
| Provision for doubtful accounts | $ | 220 | $ | 442 | ||||
| Inventory-related expense | 209 | 211 | ||||||
| Accrued liabilities | 739 | 1,170 | ||||||
| Other | 863 | 1,686 | ||||||
| Total current deferred tax assets | 2,031 | 3,509 | ||||||
| Non-current | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 3,535 | 4,069 | ||||||
| Net operating loss carry-forwards | 46,427 | 46,055 | ||||||
| Other | 28 | 54 | ||||||
| Total non-current deferred tax assets | 49,990 | 50,178 | ||||||
| Valuation allowance | (52,021 | ) | (53,687 | ) | ||||
| Total net deferred tax assets | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
At December 31, 2016, RGS had $122.4 million of federal net operating loss carryforwards expiring, if not utilized, beginning in 2020. Additionally, the Company had $109.4 million of state net operating loss carryforwards expiring, it not utilized, beginning in 2020.
Utilization of the net operating loss carry-forwards may be subject to annual limitation under applicable federal and state ownership change limitations and, accordingly, net operating losses may expire before utilization. The Company has not completed a Section 382 analysis through December 2016 and therefore has not determined the impact of any ownership changes, as defined under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code has occurred in prior years. Therefore, the net operating loss carryforwards above do not reflect any possible limitations and potential loss attributes to such ownership changes. However, the Company believes that upon completion of a Section 382 analysis, as a result of prior period ownership changes, substantially all of the net operating losses will be subject to limitation.
The Company’s valuation allowance decreased by $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2016 as a result of its operating loss for the year. The valuation allowance was determined in accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, Income Taxes, which requires an assessment of both negative and positive evidence when measuring the need for a valuation allowance. Based upon the available objective evidence and the Company’s history of losses, management believes it is more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets will not be realized. At December 31, 2016, the Company has a valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets net of the expected taxable income from the reversal of its deferred tax liabilities.
The Company is required, under the terms of its tax sharing agreement with Gaia, to distribute to Gaia the tax effect of certain tax loss carryforwards as utilized by the Company in preparing its federal, state and local income tax returns. At December 31, 2016, utilizing an income tax rate of 35%, the Company estimates that the maximum amount of such distributions to Gaia could aggregate $1.6 million.