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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Income Taxes [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

NOTE 8 – INCOME TAXES

We recorded a tax provision of $39,000 on our $5.4 million loss before taxes and equity in net income of unconsolidated entities for the three months ended March 31, 2015.  For the first three months of 2014 we recorded an income tax benefit of $882,000 on our $4.0 million of loss before equity in net income of unconsolidated entities. These provision amounts represent our qualifying U.S. flag operations, which continue to be taxed under the “tonnage tax” provisions rather than the normal U.S. corporate income tax provisions, state income taxes paid, and foreign income tax withholdings or refunds.  We established a valuation allowance against deferred income tax assets in 2014 because, based on available information, we could not conclude that it was more likely than not that the full amount of deferred income tax assets generated primarily by NOL carryforwards and AMT credits would be realized through the generation of taxable income in the near future. We have and will continue to evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a quarterly basis.  We recorded an increase in our valuation allowance of $730,000 for the three months ending March 31, 2015.

For further information on certain tax laws and elections, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed for the year ended December 31, 2014, including Note J - Income Taxes to the consolidated financial statements included therein.