Note 11 - Income Taxes

The Company uses the asset and liability approach to account for income taxes. Under this approach, deferred income taxes reflect the 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 and net operating loss and tax credit carry forwards. The amount of deferred taxes on these temporary differences is determined using the tax rates that are expected to apply to the period when the asset is realized or the liability is settled, as applicable, based on tax rates, and tax laws, in the respective tax jurisdiction then in effect.

Dynasil Corporation of America and its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries file a consolidated federal income tax return and various state returns. The Company’s U.K. subsidiary files tax returns in the U.K. Prior to November 18, 2016, the Company’s subsidiary, Xcede was included in the federal and state tax returns filed by Dynasil. As of November 18, 2016, Dynasil’s ownership in Xcede was reduced to approximately 59%. As a result, Xcede will no longer be included in Dynasil’s federal consolidated tax return and will file a separate federal return. Xcede will continue to be included in the Dynasil consolidated state tax filings pursuant to the respective state tax requirements.

In assessing the ability to realize the net deferred tax assets, management considers various factors including taxable income in carryback years, future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, tax planning strategies and projections of future taxable income, to determine whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the net deferred tax assets will not be realized.

As a result of Xcede’s de-consolidation from the Company’s federal tax returns, the Company will no longer be able to offset taxable income with Xcede’s current or cumulative net operating losses. Upon review of relevant criteria for the new Dynasil federal consolidated group, it was determined that it is more likely than not that the federal, deferred tax assets of the new Dynasil federal consolidated group will be realized based upon positive earnings history and expected future profits of the group. As a result, the federal deferred tax asset valuation allowance associated with the Dynasil federal consolidated group has been reversed resulting in an income tax benefit in the amount of $2.7 million during the nine months ended June 30, 2017. Going forward, as the Company records income, it will be able to utilize the NOLs (net operating losses) within its deferred tax assets. Based upon the Company’s recent losses and uncertainty of future profits, the Company has determined that the uncertainty regarding the realization of the Company’s state and separate Xcede deferred tax assets is sufficient to warrant the continued need for a valuation allowance against these deferred tax assets.

The Company applies the authoritative provisions related to accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. As required by these provisions, the Company recognizes the financial statement benefit of a tax position only after determining that the relevant tax authority would more-likely-than-not sustain the position following an audit. For tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not threshold, the amount recognized in the financial statements is the largest benefit that has a greater than 50 percent likelihood of being reached upon ultimate settlement with the relevant tax authority. As of June 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016, the Company has no liabilities for uncertain tax positions. Interest and penalty charges, if any, related to uncertain tax positions would be classified as income tax expense in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations. As of June 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016, the Company had no accrued interest or penalties related to uncertain tax positions. The Company currently has no federal or state tax examinations in progress.

The effective tax rates were 34% and 13% for the three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The results for the nine months ended June 30, 2017 resulted in an overall effective rate of 767% mainly driven by the tax benefit of $2.7 million recorded for the release of the valuation allowance. The effective tax rates excluding the impact of the valuation allowance were (43.6%) and 32% for the nine months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The rates differ from the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 34% primarily due to a full valuation allowance against certain U.S. deferred tax assets of the Company.

The Company files its tax returns as prescribed by the tax laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. The Company’s tax filings for federal and state jurisdictions for the tax years beginning with 2013 are still subject to examination.