Note 15. INCOME TAXES

 

The Company’s net loss before income taxes of $14.9 million and $9.0 million consisted entirely from U.S. operations for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The components of income tax expense and taxes paid by jurisdiction for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 were as follows:

 

   2025   2024 
   December 31, 
   2025   2024 
Current:          
Federal  $   $ 
State and local(1)   44,042    11,650 
Foreign        
Total  $44,042   $11,650 

 

  (1) For the year ended December 31, 2025, state and local taxes, net of federal benefit, were attributable to Texas and Delaware.

 

Deferred tax assets and valuation allowance

 

The tax effect of significant items comprising deferred tax assets are as follows:

 

       
   December 31, 
   2025   2024 
Deferred tax assets:          
Net operating loss carryover  $9,916,597   $8,185,845 
Stock compensation   247,574    247,574 
Capitalized R&E costs   817,594    662,855 
Bad debt expense   96,680    203,323 
Other   165,788    107,538 
Operating lease liabilities   196,805    274,962 
Tax credits   510,729    480,724 
Total deferred tax assets   11,951,767    10,162,821 
Deferred tax liability:          
Right-of-use asset tax liability  $(145,862)  $(261,215)
Depreciation and amortization   (39,136)   (50,463)
Total deferred tax liability   (184,998)   (311,678)
Less: valuation allowance   (11,766,769)   (9,851,143)
 Deferred tax assets (liabilities), net  $   $ 

 

The Company is required to reduce its deferred tax assets by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some or all of its deferred tax assets will not be realized. Management must use judgment in assessing the potential need for a valuation allowance, which requires an evaluation of both negative and positive evidence. The weight given to the potential effect of negative and positive evidence should be commensurate with the extent to which it can be objectively verified. In determining the need for and amount of the valuation allowance, if any, the Company assesses the likelihood that it will be able to recover its deferred tax assets using historical levels of income, estimates of future income and tax planning strategies. As a result of historical cumulative losses, the Company determined that, based on all available evidence, there was substantial uncertainty as to whether it will recover recorded net deferred taxes in future periods. Accordingly, the Company recorded a valuation allowance against all of its net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024. The net change in total valuation allowance was an increase of approximately $1.9 million and $2.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

 

 

The reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, was as follows:

 

T                        
   December 31, 
   2025   2024 
Tax at federal statutory rate  $ (3,131,048 )    -21.00%  $ (1,898,365 )    -21.00%
Permanent differences    953,106    6.4%    7,219    0.1%
Research and development credits    (103,949 )    -0.7%    (73,945)    -0.8%
Deferred true-up    366,263      2.5%         0.0%
Change in valuation allowance    1,915,628    12.8%    1,965,091    21.7%
Effective income tax rate  $    0.00%  $    0.00%

 

Unrecognized tax benefits

 

As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company has unrecognized tax benefits related to tax credits of $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively. None of the unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2025, if recognized, would impact the effective tax rate due to the valuation allowance, and no interest or penalties have been recognized. A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balance of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

 

       
   December 31, 
   2025   2024 
Beginning balance  $281,207   $249,516 
Deductions based on tax positions related to the prior year   (31,691)    
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year   44,549    31,691 
Ending balance  $294,065   $281,207 

 

The Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties accrued on any unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company recognized no interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax benefits. There are no tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease within twelve months of the reporting date.

 

Under the tax statute of limitations applicable to the Internal Revenue Code, the Company and its U.S. subsidiary, either standalone or as part of the consolidated group, is no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations by the Internal Revenue Service for tax years before tax year 2021. However, because the Company is carrying forward income tax attributes, such as net operating losses and tax credits from 2020 and earlier tax years, these attributes can still be audited when utilized on returns filed in the future.

 

As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards of $47.2 million and $38.0 million for federal purposes, respectively. If not utilized, federal net operating losses of $6.0 million will begin to expire in 2034 and $41.2 million will be carried forward indefinitely.

 

As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had research and development tax credit carryforwards for federal purposes of $0.5 million and $0.7 million, respectively. The federal research and development tax credit carryforwards will expire at various dates between 2037 and 2045.

 

Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code provide for a limitation on the annual use of NOL and tax credit carryforwards following certain ownership changes that could limit the Company’s ability to utilize these carryforwards. The Company continues to disclose the NOL and tax credit carryforwards at their original amount in the table above as no potential limitation has been quantified. The Company has also established a full valuation allowance for all deferred tax assets, including the NOL and tax credit carryforwards, since the Company could not conclude that it was more likely than not able to generate future taxable income to realize these assets. Due to the existence of a full valuation allowance, limitations under Section 382 and 383 will not impact the Company’s effective tax rate. Further analyses will be performed prior to recognizing the benefits of any losses or credits in the consolidated financial statements.

 

Beginning on January 1, 2022, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“the Act”), enacted in December 2017, eliminated the option to deduct research and experimentation expenditures in the current period and requires taxpayers to capitalize and amortize U.S.-based and non-U.S. based research and experimentation expenditures over five and fifteen years, respectively. However, the enactment of the bipartisan OBBB Act, signed into law in July 2025, repeals the mandatory capitalization requirement for domestic R&D expenditures for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. The Company has elected to continue to capitalize research and experimentation expenditures. This legislation does not impact the Company's current tax obligations.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 16, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 31, 2025
2023Apr 1, 2024

About Income Taxes Disclosures

The income tax disclosure reveals how much a company actually pays in taxes versus what the statutory rate would predict. Analysts focus on the effective tax rate (ETR) reconciliation, which breaks down every item driving the gap between the 21% federal rate and the company's reported ETR — including R&D credits, foreign rate differentials, and state taxes. Deferred tax assets (DTAs) and their valuation allowances signal management's confidence in future profitability: a rising allowance suggests the company doubts it can use accumulated tax benefits. Uncertain tax benefit (UTB) reserves quantify exposure to IRS challenges on aggressive positions.

Key signals to watch: sudden ETR drops without clear operational reasons, large increases in valuation allowances, growing UTB balances, and significant unremitted foreign earnings. Post-TCJA, pay attention to GILTI and BEAT provisions that affect multinational tax structures. Compare the cash taxes paid (from the cash flow statement) against the income tax provision to gauge earnings quality.