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Income Taxes
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

10. Income Taxes

Components of Income and Income Tax

The Company did not record a provision (benefit) for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. Net loss is attributable to the following tax jurisdictions (in thousands):

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

United States

 

$

(117,440

)

 

$

(95,778

)

Foreign

 

 

(232

)

 

 

139

 

 Net Loss

 

$

(117,672

)

 

$

(95,639

)

The provision for income taxes differs from the amount expected by applying the federal statutory rates to the net loss before taxes as follows:

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

Federal statutory income tax rate

 

 

21.0

%

 

 

21.0

%

State taxes

 

 

 

 

 

(0.4

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

(1.1

)

 

 

(1.3

)

Non-deductible expenses and others

 

 

(0.1

)

 

 

(0.1

)

Tax credits

 

 

4.2

 

 

 

2.2

 

Change in valuation allowance

 

 

(24.0

)

 

 

(21.4

)

Effective income tax rate

 

 

%

 

 

%

 

 

Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

Deferred tax assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net operating loss carryforwards

 

$

31,342

 

 

$

24,092

 

Research and development tax credit
   carryforwards

 

 

9,327

 

 

 

4,218

 

Accrued liabilities

 

 

2,828

 

 

 

2,781

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

2,564

 

 

 

1,676

 

Operating lease liability

 

 

333

 

 

 

404

 

Other

 

 

180

 

 

 

121

 

Capitalized research and development

 

 

25,182

 

 

 

10,729

 

Total deferred tax assets

 

 

71,756

 

 

 

44,021

 

Deferred tax liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right of use asset

 

 

(221

)

 

 

(267

)

Prepaid expenses and other

 

 

(75

)

 

 

(475

)

Investments

 

 

(214

)

 

 

(294

)

Total deferred tax liabilities

 

 

(510

)

 

 

(1,036

)

Less valuation allowance

 

 

(71,246

)

 

 

(42,985

)

Net deferred tax assets

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

Deferred income taxes reflect temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting and income tax purposes, and operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. The Company considers a number of factors concerning the realizability of its net deferred tax assets, including its history of operating losses, the nature of the deferred tax assets, and the timing, likelihood and amount, if any, of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences and carryforwards become deductible, all of which require significant judgment. As of December 31, 2023, the Company has recorded a full valuation allowance on its net deferred tax assets as the Company has concluded that it is not more likely than not that such losses or credits will be utilized. The valuation allowance increased by $28.3 million and $20.4 million during 2023 and 2022, respectively.

At December 31, 2023, the Company has federal net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards of $9.5 million and $12.4 million, respectively, which expire over a period of 8 to 14 years. Net operating loss carryforwards of $138.7 million were generated after 2017, and therefore do not expire. As of December 31, 2023, the Company also had state net operating loss carryforwards of $3.3 million, which expire over a period of 18 to 20 years.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act contained a provision which requires the capitalization of Section 174 costs incurred in years beginning on or after January 1, 2022. Section 174 costs are expenditures which represent research and development costs that are incident to the development or improvement of a product, process, formula, invention, computer software, or technique. This provision changes the treatment of Section 174 costs such that the expenditures are no longer allowed as an immediate deduction but rather must be capitalized and amortized. We have included the impact of this provision, which results in a deferred tax asset of approximately $25.2 million as of December 31, 2023.

Uncertain Tax Positions

The Company files federal income tax returns. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to income tax examinations by tax authorities for years prior to 2016. However, to the extent allowed by law, the tax authorities may have the right to examine prior periods where net operating losses or tax credits

were generated and carried forward and may make adjustments to the amount of the net operating loss or credit carryforward amount. The Company is not currently under examination in any jurisdiction.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

Beginning balance

 

$

1,406

 

 

$

722

 

Additions for tax positions taken in prior
   years

 

 

182

 

 

 

-

 

Additions for tax positions taken in the current
   year

 

 

1,521

 

 

 

684

 

Ending balance

 

$

3,109

 

 

$

1,406

 

 

If the unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2023 are recognized, there will be no impact to the effective tax rate due to the valuation allowance. The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within the income tax expense line in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. At December 31, 2023, there were no material interest and penalties on uncertain tax benefits. The Company does not anticipate any significant changes to its unrecognized tax benefits in the next 12 months.