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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Income Taxes  
Income Taxes

Note 14. Income Taxes

 

We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”), which requires that deferred tax assets and liabilities be recognized using enacted tax rates for the effect of temporary differences between the book and tax bases of recorded assets and liabilities. ASC 740 also requires that deferred tax assets be reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that a portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Our deferred tax assets have been reduced to zero by a valuation allowance.

 

The Tax Act enacted in December 2017 introduced significant changes to U.S. income tax law. Effective 2018, the Tax Act reduced the U.S. statutory tax rate from 35% to 21% and created new taxes on certain foreign-sourced earnings and certain intercompany payments.

 

We provide for income taxes based upon the geographic composition of worldwide earnings and tax regulations governing each region, particularly China. The calculation of tax liabilities involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws, particularly in foreign countries such as China.

 

We recognize interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions in income tax expense. Income tax expense for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 includes no interest and penalties. As of September 30, 2018, we have no accrued interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions. We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal, various states and foreign jurisdictions. We have substantially concluded all U.S. federal and state income tax matters through 2002 and 2013, respectively. 

Provision for income taxes for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 was mostly related to our wholly owned China subsidiaries and our three partially owned subsidiaries in China. Besides the state tax liabilities, no income taxes or benefits have been provided for U.S. operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 due to the loss in the U.S. and the uncertainty of generating future profit in the U.S., which has resulted in our deferred tax asset being fully reserved.

 

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (“TCJA”) was enacted into law, which significantly changes existing U.S. tax law and includes numerous provisions that affect our business, such as imposing a one-time transition tax on deemed repatriation of deferred foreign income, reducing the U.S. federal statutory tax rate, and adopting a territorial tax system. The TCJA includes a provision to tax global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) of foreign subsidiaries and a base erosion anti-abuse tax (“BEAT”) measure that taxes certain payments between a U.S. corporation and its subsidiaries. The GILTI and BEAT provisions of the TCJA is effective for us beginning January 1, 2018. We have included an estimate of the current GILTI impact in our September 30, 2018 tax provision. We are not subject to BEAT provision.