Note 13 — Income Taxes

 

Income (loss) before provision for income taxes was as follows:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

United States

 

$

(16,701,755

)

 

$

(6,824,771

)

Foreign

 

 

1,632,403

 

 

 

1,006,659

 

Loss before income taxes

 

$

(15,069,352

)

 

$

(5,818,112

)

 

 

The income tax provision for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 consists of the following:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Current income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

  US federal

 

$

 

 

$

 

  US state and local

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Foreign

 

 

504,532

 

 

 

365,617

 

     Total current income tax expense

 

 

504,532

 

 

 

365,617

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deferred tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

  US federal

 

 

 

 

 

 

  US state and local

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Foreign

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Total deferred income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total income tax expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

  US federal

 

 

 

 

 

 

  US state and local

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Foreign

 

 

504,532

 

 

 

365,617

 

     Total income tax expense

 

$

504,532

 

 

$

365,617

 

 

 

The reconciliation between the U.S statutory federal income tax rate and the Company’s effective rate for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 is as follows:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

 

Amount

 

 

Percent

 

US federal statutory income tax rate

 

$

(3,164,564

)

 

 

21.00

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Domestic federal

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Tax credits

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Research credits

 

 

(518,231

)

 

 

3.40

%

  Nontaxable and nondeductible items

 

 

(27,923

)

 

 

0.2

%

  Cross-border tax laws

 

 

238,181

 

 

 

(1.6

)%

  Valuation allowance

 

 

3,743,988

 

 

 

(24.8

)%

  Other

 

 

71,353

 

 

 

(0.5

)%

Domestic state and local, net of federal

 

 

 

 

 

0.0

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foreign tax effects

 

 

 

 

 

 

Germany

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Local Corporate Trade Taxes

 

 

259,224

 

 

 

(1.7

)%

   Other

 

 

(97,496

)

 

 

0.6

%

Total

 

$

504,532

 

 

 

(3.3

)%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2024

 

 

 

Percent

 

U.S. federal statutory rate

 

 

21.00

%

State income taxes, net of federal benefit

 

 

5.96

%

State rate change and other

 

 

1.89

%

NOLs' to expire unutilized due to 382 limitation

 

 

0.00

%

Foreign Rate Differential

 

 

-1.57

%

Other permanent items

 

 

10.04

%

Prior year taxes

 

 

0.00

%

Change in valuation allowance

 

 

-43.61

%

  Effective Tax Rate

 

 

-6.28

%

 

The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 on a prospective basis.

 

The significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows:

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Net operating loss carryover

 

$

16,797,345

 

 

$

12,300,344

 

Tax credits

 

 

1,415,887

 

 

 

534,876

 

Research and Experimental cost capitalization

 

 

1,370,856

 

 

 

1,850,075

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

926,798

 

 

 

793,031

 

Other

 

 

2,724,379

 

 

 

3,335,205

 

Total deferred tax asset

 

 

23,235,266

 

 

 

18,813,531

 

Less: valuation allowance

 

 

(21,557,845

)

 

 

(16,940,159

)

Deferred tax asset, net of valuation allowance

 

$

1,677,421

 

 

$

1,873,372

 

Right of use asset

 

 

(1,677,421

)

 

 

(1,873,372

)

Total deferred tax liabilities

 

 

(1,677,421

)

 

 

(1,873,372

)

Net deferred tax asset (liability)

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ( “the Act”) was enacted into law in the United States, with certain provisions of the Act effective in 2025 and other provisions becoming effective in 2026 and beyond. The provisions of the Act effective in 2025 were not material and have been reflected in our results, as applicable.

 

As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had approximately $97,244,000 and $79,060,000 of Federal NOLs and $76,510,000 and $63,502,000 of state NOLs, respectively, available to offset future taxable income. The Federal NOLs incurred prior to 2018 of approximately $26,425,000, if not utilized, begin expiring in the year 2028. The Federal NOLs incurred after 2017 of approximately $70,819,000 have an indefinite carryforward period. The state NOLs if not utilized begin to expire in to expire in 2026 through 2045.

 

Additionally, the Company has U.S. federal and state research and development tax credits of $881,000 and $342,000, respectively, which will begin to expire in the year 2026 and 2033, respectively.

 

NOL carryforwards may face limitations caused by changes in ownership under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. During 2023, the Company experienced an ownership change within the meaning of Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The ownership change has and will continue to subject the Company’s pre-ownership change net operating loss carryforwards to an annual limitation, which will significantly restrict its ability to use them to offset taxable income in periods following the ownership change. The annual use limitation equals the aggregate value of the Company’s stock at the time of the ownership change multiplied by a specified tax-exempt interest rate. As a result of these ownership changes, the Company is limited to an approximately $64,000 annual limitation on its ability to utilize pre-change NOLs during the carryforward period and has determined that approximately $20,000,000 and $48,000,000 of the Company’s pre-change Federal and State NOLs, respectively, will expire unutilized. As of the issuance date of these financials, the Company has not undertaken a study to determine if its equity offerings in August 2023, January 2024 and December 2024 constituted ownership changes under Section 382.

 

ASC 740 , “Income Taxes” requires that a valuation allowance be established when it is “more likely than not” that all, or a portion of, deferred tax assets will not be realized. A review of all available positive and negative evidence needs to be considered, including the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and tax planning strategies. After consideration of all the information available, management believes that uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of its deferred tax assets and has, therefore, established a full valuation allowance as of December 31, 2025 and 2024. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the change in valuation allowance was an increase of approximately $4,618,000 an increase of $2,540,000, respectively.

 

The Company recognizes interest and penalties relating to unrecognized tax benefits on the income tax expense line in the statement of operations. There are no tax penalties and interest on the consolidated statement of operations as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The Company operates in multiple tax jurisdictions and, in the normal course of business, its tax returns are subject to examination by various taxing authorities. Such examinations may result in future assessments by these taxing authorities. The Company is subject to examination by U.S. tax authorities beginning with the year ended December 31, 2022. To the extent the Company has tax attribute carryforwards the tax years in which the attribute was generated may still be adjusted upon examination by the Internal Revenue Service, or state of foreign tax authorities to the extent utilized in a future period.

 

The amount of cash income taxes paid by the Company were as follows:

 

 

 

2025

 

Federal

 

$

 

State and local

 

 

 

Foreign:

 

 

 

      Germany

 

 

330,939

 

Income Taxes Paid, net of amounts refunded

 

$

330,939

 

 

 

There were no accrued interest and penalties at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 9, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 10, 2025
2023Mar 8, 2024
2022Mar 13, 2023
2021Mar 11, 2022
2020Mar 10, 2021
2019Mar 13, 2020
2018Mar 12, 2019
2017Mar 12, 2018

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.