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Income Tax Audit/Change in Accounting Estimate
 3 Months Ended
Apr. 30, 2013
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

10.  Income Tax Audit/Change in Accounting Estimate

 

The Company is subject to US federal income tax, as well as income tax in multiple US state and local jurisdictions and a number of foreign jurisdictions. The Company’s federal income tax returns for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007, have been audited by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). The Company has received a final “No Change Letter” from the IRS for FY07 dated August 20, 2009. The Company has received notice from the IRS on March 21, 2011, that it will shortly commence an audit for the FY09 tax return. There have been no further communications from the IRS since.

 

Our three major foreign tax jurisdictions are China, Canada and Brazil. China tax authorities performed a fraud audit, but the scope was limited to the fraud activities found in late FY09 as discussed more fully in Note 14 to the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2010. This audit covered tax years from 2003 through 2008. We reached a settlement with the Chinese Government in January 2009. China tax authorities have performed limited reviews on all China subsidiaries as of tax years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 with no significant issues noted. We believe our tax positions are reasonably stated as of January 31, 2013. On May 9, 2013, one of our China operations was notified by local tax authority that they could conduct an audit on transfer pricing. After preliminary communication with the tax authority, we believe the additional tax liability will be no more than RMB100,000 or USD$16,000. At the same time, China tax authority also questioned about the retained earning amount for not being repatriated to corporate and the delayed payment in trade payable from corporate to the sister companies, especially from US parent to our Chinese subsidiary. Additionally, China tax authority also questioned if there is any tax avoidance motive in the investment by Weifang Lakeland Safety Products Co., Ltd. of USD$500,000 to our Argentina subsidiary. We do not believe there will be any material tax consequences from the latter two inquiries.

  

Lakeland Protective Wear, Inc., our Canadian subsidiary, follows Canada tax regulatory framework recording its tax expense and tax deferred assets or liabilities. As of this statement filing date, we believe the Company’s tax situation is reasonably stated, and we do not anticipate future tax liability.

 

The Company’s Brazilian subsidiary is currently under a tax audit, which raised some issues regarding the tax impact related to the merger held in 2008 and the resulting goodwill resulting from the structure which was set up at the Company's Brazilian counsel's suggestion. The Company has not received any formal communication from the authorities. There is no formal claim received, and there may not be such a claim in any case. However, this structure is relatively common in acquisitions of Brazilian operations made by non-Brazilian companies. In general, acquisitions with this structure have survived challenge by the taxing authorities in Brazil. The cumulative amount of tax benefits recognized on the Company’s books through April 30, 2013, resulting from the tax deduction of the goodwill amortization is approximately USD$0, net of the deferred tax valuation reserve. This results from the goodwill on the Brazilian books which, for Brazilian tax purposes, is eligible for tax write-off over a five-year period dating from November 2008.