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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
The provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, consists of the following (in thousands):
 20232022
Current expense  
State expense$(35)$(17)
Total current expense(35)(17)
Deferred (expense) benefit:  
Federal expense(1,940)(857)
State benefit102 346 
Total deferred expense(1,838)(511)
Total expense$(1,873)$(528)

The effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, differs from the statutory rate as follows:
 20232022
Statutory rate21.0 %21.0 %
State and local taxes(1.3)%812.2 %
Stock based compensation0.7 %(58.5)%
Nondeductible compensation8.2 %(1,846.3)%
Other(0.3)%(217.1)%
Effective rate28.3 %(1,288.7)%

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") was enacted in response to the economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act, among other things, permits federal income tax net operating loss ("NOL") carryovers and carrybacks to offset 100% of taxable income for taxable years beginning before 2021. In addition, the CARES Act allows NOLs incurred in 2018, 2019, and 2020 to be carried back to each of the five preceding taxable years to generate a refund of previously paid federal income taxes. The Company generated significant NOLs
during 2018 and 2019 and filed carryback claims for these losses to the preceding five years. Accordingly, as of March 31, 2020, the Company recorded a federal income tax receivable of $15.0 million and an increase to its deferred tax liability of $10.1 million on its balance sheet. During the third quarter of 2020, the Company received refunds corresponding to the 2018 NOL carryback, leaving a balance in the federal income tax receivable of $11.5 million at December 31, 2023.

In conjunction with the $11.5 million income tax refund claim, on March 8, 2023, the Company received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service that its 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 income tax returns were selected for examination.

The income tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of deferred income tax assets and (liabilities) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, are as follows (in thousands):
 20232022
Deferred income tax assets:  
Net operating loss$22,190 $6,391 
Research and development credits1,313 1,338 
Stock compensation153 121 
Interest expense991 — 
Inventory reserves893 — 
Deferred compensation792 617 
Other285 354 
Total deferred income tax assets26,617 8,821 
Deferred income tax liabilities:  
Property and equipment(68,110)(48,427)
Goodwill and other intangible assets(143)(192)
Total deferred income tax liabilities(68,253)(48,619)
Net deferred income tax liabilities$(41,636)$(39,798)

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had NOL carryforwards for federal income tax purposes of $96.0 million, which may be carried forward indefinitely and can offset up to 80% of future taxable income in any given year. Future changes in ownership, as defined by Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC"), could limit the amount of NOL carryforwards used in any one year. In general, under Section 382 and 383 of the IRC, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs and certain tax credits, to offset future taxable income and tax. In general, an ownership change occurs if the aggregate stock ownership of certain stockholders changes by more than 50 percentage points over such stockholders’ lowest percentage of ownership during the testing period (generally three years).

We account for uncertain tax positions in accordance with guidance in FASB ASC 740, which prescribes the minimum recognition threshold a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return is required to meet before being recognized in the financial statements. The Company assessed whether it had any uncertain tax positions related to open tax years and concluded there were none. Accordingly, no reserve for uncertain tax positions has been recorded as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Our policy regarding income tax interest and penalties is to expense those items as incurred. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no significant income tax interest or penalty items in the statement of operations.
We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various state jurisdictions. With few exceptions, we are no longer subject to U.S. federal or state income tax examination by tax authorities for years before 2015.