XML 28 R17.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.20.2
Note 12 - Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2020
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

12. Contingencies

 

In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to legal proceedings, government inquiries and claims, and other commercial disputes. If one or more of these matters has an unfavorable resolution, it is possible that the results of operations, liquidity or financial position of the Company could be materially affected in any particular period. The Company accrues a liability for these types of contingencies when it believes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and that it can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss. Gain contingencies are recorded when the underlying uncertainty has been settled.

  

Assessments made by the U.K. customs authority in 2012 were appealed by the Company, which has paid the disputed duty, strictly under protest, pending the outcome of the continuing dispute, and this is included in receivables, net in the DTC segment. The U.K. customs authority contested the Company's appeal. In November 2019, the first-tier tribunal issued a ruling that duty was due on some, but not all, of the products at issue. Both the Company and the U.K. customs authority have appealed that ruling. The Company currently expects that the appeal on the matter will be heard by the upper tribunal sometime during the first half of calendar year 2021. The Company maintains a provision against the related receivable, based on a current evaluation of collectability, using the latest facts available in the dispute. As of October 31, 2020, the Company had a gross receivable balance of $4.5 million and a reserve of $3.6 million, leaving a net receivable of $0.9 million. The Company believes that the outcome of this dispute will not have a material adverse impact on its results of operations, liquidity or financial position.