Note 15 - Income Taxes

The (benefit) provision for income taxes for the periods indicated includes current and deferred components as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2019	2018
Current taxes
Federal	$ (12)	$ (3)
State	42	156
	30	153
Deferred taxes
Federal	386	5,784
State	(210)	4,185
	176	9,969
Tax (benefit) expense related to a (decrease) increase in unrecognized tax benefits	(221)	-
Interest expense, gross of related tax effects	(100)	47
Total (benefit) provision	$ (115)	$ 10,169

The (provision) benefit for income taxes for the periods indicated differs from the amounts computed by applying the federal statutory rate as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2019	2018
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	21.0%	21.0%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	2.9%	5.0%
Valuation allowance	(20.1)%	(59.7)%
State rate and other changes in deferred taxes	(1.1)%	1.0%
Federal and state credits	0.1%	0.1%
Uncertain tax positions	1.7%	(0.3)%
Nondeductible expenses and other	(4.3)%	(0.5)%
Effective income tax rate	0.2%	(33.4)%

Deferred income taxes result from temporary differences in the financial and tax basis of assets and liabilities.

Components of deferred tax assets (liabilities) consisted of the following:


	December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Description	Assets	Liabilities	Assets	Liabilities

Accrued postretirement and pension benefits	$ 1,541	$ -	$ 2,424	$ -
Intangible assets	-	(13)	-	(1,653)
Accrued expenses	3,370	-	9,210	-
Deferred state and local incentive revenue	1,780	-	2,349	-
Inventory valuation	2,071	-	2,338	-
Property, plant and equipment and railcars on operating leases	-	(6,295)	-	(20,975)
Net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards	34,078	-	28,165	-
Stock-based compensation expense	1,152	-	1,168	-
Right of use asset	-	(14,193)	-	-
Lease liability	17,326	-	-	-
Other	-	(1,028)	1,320	(251)
	61,318	(21,529)	46,974	(22,879)
Valuation allowance	(39,792)	-	(24,450)	-
Deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$ 21,526	$ (21,529)	$ 22,524	$ (22,879)
Increase (decrease) in valuation allowance	$ 15,342		$ 18,187

A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Management has concluded that, based on evaluation of the positive and negative evidence, primarily the history of operating losses, we will not more likely than not realize the benefit of the deferred tax assets. The Company has certain pretax state net operating loss carryforwards of $160,489 which will expire between 2020 and 2039, for which a full valuation allowance has been recorded. The Company also has federal net operating loss carryforwards and federal tax credit carryforwards of $100,431 and $2,016, respectively, which will begin to expire in 2030, for which a full valuation allowance also has been recorded.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending gross amounts of unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, were as follows:


	2019	2018
Beginning of year balance	$ 1,310	$ 1,383
Decreases in prior period tax positions	-	(73)
Decreases related to settlements	(1,310)	-
End of year balance	$ -	$ 1,310

The total estimated unrecognized tax benefit that, if recognized, would affect the Company’s effective tax rate was $0 as of each of December 31, 2019 and 2018. Due to the nature of the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits, the Company does not expect changes in its unrecognized tax benefit reserve in the next twelve months to have a material impact on its financial statements. The Company’s income tax provision included $0 of expenses (net of federal tax benefits of $0) and $94 of expenses (net of federal tax benefits of $11) related to interest and penalties for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company records interest and penalties as a component of income tax expense. Such expenses brought the balance of accrued interest and penalties to $0 and $200 at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

The Company and/or its subsidiaries file income tax returns with the U.S. federal government and in various state and foreign jurisdictions. A summary of tax years that remain subject to examination is as follows:


Jurisdiction	Earliest Year Open to Examination
U.S. Federal	2017
States:
Pennsylvania	2000
Texas	2018
Illinois	2010
Virginia	2016
Colorado	2010
Indiana	2010
Nebraska	2016
Alabama	2016
Foreign:
China	2016