Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 12.  Income Taxes

Historically, the Company recorded its interim tax provision or benefit for income taxes including the three and nine months ended October 31, 2018, by applying an estimate of the annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to “ordinary” income or loss (pre-tax income or loss excluding unusual or infrequently occurring discrete items) for the reporting period. The Company determined that since small changes in estimated “ordinary” income would result in significant changes in the estimated annual effective tax rate, the historical method would not provide a reliable estimate for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2019. Thus, the Company used a discrete effective tax rate method to calculate the provision or benefit for income taxes for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2019.

The Company’s tax benefit was approximately 65.9% and approximately 266.7% for the three months ended October 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company’s tax benefit was approximately 234.7% and approximately 112.8% for the nine months ended October 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The fluctuation in the rate results primarily from the production tax credits the Company expects to receive associated with its refined coal segment relative to pre-tax income or loss. Through its refined coal operation, the Company earns production tax credits pursuant to IRC Section 45. The credits can be used to reduce future income tax liabilities for up to 20 years.

The Company files a U.S. federal income tax return and various state income tax returns. In general, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state or local income tax examinations by tax authorities for years ended January 31, 2014 and prior. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties, is as follows (amounts in thousands):

	Nine Months Ended October 31,
	2019		2018
Unrecognized tax benefits, beginning of period	$	9,232	$	2,325
Changes for prior years’ tax positions		(77)		4,666
Changes for current year tax positions		-		-
Unrecognized tax benefits, end of period	$	9,155	$	6,991