9. Income Taxes

The Company had pre-tax book loss of $40.8 million and $17.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company had no income tax provision for the year ended December 31, 2023 and a $15,000 income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2022.  

The (benefit) provision for income taxes, all classified as current, consists of the following (in thousands):

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Reconciliation between the tax provision computed at the federal statutory income tax rate and the Company’s actual effective income tax rate is as follows:

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The significant components of net deferred tax assets at December 31, 2023 and 2022 were as follows (in thousands):

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The net increase in the valuation allowance was $8.0 million and $3.3 million, for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Accounting standards provide for the recognition of deferred tax assets if realization of such assets is more likely than not. Based upon the weight of available evidence, which includes the Company’s four sources of taxable income including historical operating performance and the repeal of NOL carryback, the Company has determined that total deferred tax assets should be fully offset by a valuation allowance.

Based on an analysis under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code (which subjects the amount of pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes that can be utilized to annual limitations), the Company experienced an ownership change in February 2017 which substantially limits the future use of its pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes per year. The Company has excluded the related tax attributes that will expire as a result of the annual limitations in the deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. To the extent that the Company does not utilize its carryforwards within the applicable statutory carryforward periods, either because of Section 382 limitations or the lack of sufficient taxable income, the carryforwards will expire unused.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had federal NOL carry-forwards of approximately $137.8 million and state NOL carry-forwards of approximately $22.1 million to offset future taxable income. $13.6 million of federal NOL carryforwards will begin to expire in 2036 and the remainder may be carried forward indefinitely. The state NOL carryforwards will begin to expire in 2033. The Company had federal orphan credit of $2.0 million which if not utilized will expire in 2037. The Company also had $19.8 million of California research and development tax credits which have no expiration date.

Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as modified by the federal tax law changes enacted in March 2020, federal NOLs incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 may be carried forward indefinitely, but, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, the deductibility of such federal NOLs may only be utilized to offset 80% of taxable income annually.  

One of the provisions under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that became effective in tax years beginning after December 31, 2021 required the capitalization and amortization of research and experimental expenditures. The change in this U.S. tax law did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements. The Company will continue to evaluate the impact of this tax law change on future periods.

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “Inflation Act”) into law. The Inflation Act contains certain tax measures, including a corporate alternative minimum tax of 15% on some large corporations and an excise tax of 1% on corporate stock buy-backs. The various provisions of the Inflation Act did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes.

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various states. The Company’s federal income tax returns for tax years 2020 and beyond remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service. The Company’s state income tax returns for tax years 2019 and beyond remain subject to examination by state tax authorities. In addition, all of the NOLs and research and development credit carryforwards that may be used in future years are still subject to adjustment.

The following table summarizes the Company’s activity related to its unrecognized tax benefits (in thousands):

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As of December 31, 2023, the Company had a total of $5.9 million of gross unrecognized tax benefits, none of which would affect the effective tax rate upon realization as the Company currently has a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets. The reversal of related deferred tax assets will be offset by a valuation allowance, should any of these uncertain tax positions be favorably settled in the future.

The Company does not expect its unrecognized tax benefits to change significantly over the next twelve months. The Company will recognize interest and penalties accrued on any unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. Through December 31, 2023, the Company has not accrued interest or penalties related to uncertain tax positions.