XML 57 R43.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.20.4

INCOME TAXES (Tables) | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2020
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract] |
Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign | The components of pretax income (loss) from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
United States | $ | (55,699) |  |  | $ | 6,758 |  |  | $ | 23,349 |
International | (238,367) |  |  | (20,289) |  |  | (22,318) |
Income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes | $ | (294,066) |  |  | $ | (13,531) |  |  | $ | 1,031 |
The provision (benefit) for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 was allocated between continuing operations and discontinued operations as follows (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Continuing Operations | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
Discontinued Operations | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Total | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit) | The provision (benefit) for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 was allocated between continuing operations and discontinued operations as follows (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Continuing Operations | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
Discontinued Operations | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Total | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
The provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following components (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Current taxes: |  |  |  |  |
U.S. federal | $ | (180) |  |  | $ | (5,901) |  |  | $ | 768 |
State | 1,719 |  |  | 929 |  |  | 57 |
International | (1,942) |  |  | 7,218 |  |  | 3,218 |
Total current taxes | (403) |  |  | 2,246 |  |  | 4,043 |
Deferred taxes: |  |  |  |  |
U.S. federal | 32 |  |  | 32 |  |  | (319) |
State | 114 |  |  | (9) |  |  | — |
International | (7,247) |  |  | (1,508) |  |  | (4,681) |
Total deferred taxes | (7,101) |  |  | (1,485) |  |  | (5,000) |
Provision (benefit) for income taxes | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation | The items accounting for differences between the income tax provision (benefit) from continuing operations computed at the U.S. federal statutory rate and the provision (benefit) for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were as follows (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018 (2)
U.S. federal income tax provision (benefit) at statutory rate | $ | (61,805) |  |  | $ | (2,842) |  |  | $ | 216 |
Foreign income and losses taxed at different rates (1) | 8,608 |  |  | 5,529 |  |  | 2,113 |
State income taxes, net of federal benefits, and state tax credits | 6,487 |  |  | 5,297 |  |  | 720 |
Change in valuation allowances | (4,474) |  |  | (10,074) |  |  | (7,727) |
Effect of income tax rate changes on deferred items | 618 |  |  | (3,443) |  |  | 1,544 |
Tax effects of intercompany transactions | — |  |  | — |  |  | 607 |
Adjustments related to uncertain tax positions | (15,518) |  |  | (12,418) |  |  | 18 |
Non-deductible stock-based compensation expense | 3,803 |  |  | 6,355 |  |  | 3,239 |
Tax (windfalls)/shortfalls on stock-based compensation awards | 3,876 |  |  | 2,042 |  |  | (335) |
Federal research and development credits, net of adjustments | 6,043 |  |  | 3,447 |  |  | (8,331) |
Forgiveness of intercompany liabilities | (2,863) |  |  | 67 |  |  | (1,340) |
Ordinary stock loss | — |  |  | — |  |  | (11,815) |
Net operating loss expiration | 19,962 |  |  | 12,537 |  |  | — |
Goodwill impairment | 23,202 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Non-deductible or non-taxable items | 4,557 |  |  | (5,736) |  |  | 20,134 |
Provision (benefit) for income taxes | $ | (7,504) |  |  | $ | 761 |  |  | $ | (957) |
(1)Tax rates in foreign jurisdictions were generally lower than the U.S. federal statutory rate through December 31, 2020. This results in an adverse impact to the provision (benefit) for income taxes in this rate reconciliation for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 prior to the impact of valuation allowances, due to the net pretax losses from continuing operations in certain foreign jurisdictions with lower tax rates. (2)During the year ended December 31, 2019, we updated our net operating losses to remove deferred tax assets that could never be utilized due to IRC Section 382 limitations. The amount of State income taxes, net of federal benefits, and state tax credits, Change in valuation allowances and Non-deductible or non-taxable items for the year ended December 31, 2018 have been updated from $2.0 million, $3.8 million and $7.3 million previously reported to reflect that change.
Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities | The deferred income tax assets and liabilities consisted of the following components as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands):
| December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019
Deferred tax assets: |  |  |
Accrued expenses and other liabilities | $ | 54,699 |  |  | $ | 35,565 |
Operating lease obligation | 16,279 |  |  | 22,557 |
Stock-based compensation | 5,129 |  |  | 7,657 |
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards | 142,835 |  |  | 157,202 |
Intangible assets, net | 22,974 |  |  | 21,002 |
Investments | 24,885 |  |  | 23,012 |
Unrealized foreign currency exchange losses | 1,244 |  |  | 3,765 |
Other | 985 |  |  | 1,017 |
Total deferred tax assets | 269,030 |  |  | 271,777 |
Less: Valuation allowances | (212,143) |  |  | (206,394) |
Deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance | 56,887 |  |  | 65,383 |
Deferred tax liabilities: |  |  |
Prepaid expenses and other assets | (12,288) |  |  | (16,343) |
Property, equipment and software, net | (8,211) |  |  | (11,994) |
Right-of-use asset | (11,433) |  |  | (20,172) |
Convertible senior notes | (1,163) |  |  | (1,883) |
Deferred revenue | (15,369) |  |  | (14,064) |
Total deferred tax liabilities | (48,464) |  |  | (64,456) |
Net deferred tax asset (liability) | $ | 8,423 |  |  | $ | 927 |
Summary of Unrecognized Tax Benefits | The following table summarizes activity related to our gross unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):
| Year Ended December 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2018
Beginning Balance | $ | 64,361 |  |  | $ | 87,637 |  |  | $ | 87,359 |
Increases related to prior year tax positions | 8,389 |  |  | 3,754 |  |  | 1,500 |
Decreases related to prior year tax positions | (22,541) |  |  | (28,767) |  |  | (21) |
Increases related to current year tax positions | 1,994 |  |  | 6,086 |  |  | 7,533 |
Decreases based on settlements with taxing authorities | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Decreases due to lapse of statute limitations | (5,640) |  |  | (3,875) |  |  | (9,447) |
Foreign currency translation | 2,397 |  |  | (474) |  |  | 713 |
Ending Balance | $ | 48,960 |  |  | $ | 64,361 |  |  | $ | 87,637 |

X
- Definition Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits [Table Text Block] + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | grpn_ScheduleofUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | grpn_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_IncomeTaxDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the components of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for each year presented including, but not limited to: current tax expense (benefit), deferred tax expense (benefit), investment tax credits, government grants, the benefits of operating loss carryforwards, tax expense that results from allocating certain tax benefits either directly to contributed capital or to reduce goodwill or other noncurrent intangible assets of an acquired entity, adjustments of a deferred tax liability or asset for enacted changes in tax laws or rates or a change in the tax status of the entity, and adjustments of the beginning-of-the-year balances of a valuation allowance because of a change in circumstances that causes a change in judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset in future years. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32639-109319 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfComponentsOfIncomeTaxExpenseBenefitTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the components of net deferred tax asset or liability recognized in an entity's statement of financial position, including the following: the total of all deferred tax liabilities, the total of all deferred tax assets, the total valuation allowance recognized for deferred tax assets. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32537-109319 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfDeferredTaxAssetsAndLiabilitiesTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the reconciliation using percentage or dollar amounts of the reported amount of income tax expense attributable to continuing operations for the year to the amount of income tax expense that would result from applying domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84230637&loc=d3e32687-109319 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfEffectiveIncomeTaxRateReconciliationTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of income before income tax between domestic and foreign jurisdictions. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(h)(1)(i)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120395691&loc=d3e23780-122690 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfIncomeBeforeIncomeTaxDomesticAndForeignTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration