Note 8 - Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

8. INCOME TAXES

GAAP prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return.

In

December 2017,

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of

2017

(TCJA) was signed into law. In accordance with TCJA, the Company eliminated

$91.3

million of AMT NOL carry forwards at

December 31, 2018

and recognized

$5.0

million of income tax benefit from its unused AMT credit carry forwards. In

December 2019,

the Company received notice that a portion of the refund,

$2.5

million, was applied by the U.S. Department of the Treasury toward a “Non-Tax Federal Debt.” The Company believes the refund was misapplied in error and intends to pursue collection of the amount; however, the Company has recognized a reserve for the entire

$5.0

million income tax benefit from its unused AMT credit carry forwards at

December 31, 2019,

until such time that it has further clarification on this matter.

Reconciliations between the total income tax benefit and the amount computed using the statutory federal rate of

21%

for the years ended

December 31, 2019

and

2018

were as follows:

	2019			2018
	(in thousands)
Federal income tax benefit at statutory rate	$	(1,127	)	$	(945	)
Adjusted for:
AMT refundable credits		-			(4,999	)
Valuation allowance		6,111			986
Permanent differences and other		15			(41	)
Income tax expense (benefit)	$	4,999		$	(4,999	)

Deferred tax assets were comprised of the following temporary differences as of

December 31, 2019

and

2018:

	2019			2018
	(in thousands)
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	$	29,545		$	24,239
Joint venture and other investments		(27	)		(27	)
Accrued retirement benefits		3,010			3,055
Property net book value		3,300			2,266
Deferred revenue		697			666
Stock compensation		-			16
Reserves and other		(10	)		189
Total deferred tax assets		36,515			30,404
Valuation allowance		(36,515	)		(30,404	)
Net deferred tax assets	$	-		$	-

Valuation allowances have been established to reduce future tax benefits

not

expected to be realized. The change in the deferred tax asset related to accrued retirement benefits and the valuation allowance includes the pension adjustment included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, which is

not

included in the current provision. Net Operating Loss (NOL) carryforwards created in tax years beginning after

December 31, 2017

are limited by the TCJA. The Company had approximately

$71.7

 million in federal NOL carry forwards at

December 31, 2019,

that expire from

2029

through

2034.The

Company had approximately

$85.7

million in state NOL carry forwards at

December 31, 2019,

that expire from

2029

through

2034.

The Company had approximately

$3.7

million in federal and state NOL carry forwards at

December 31, 2019

that do

not

expire.