Astronics Corporation Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

INCOME TAXES

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities. Deferred tax assets are reduced, if deemed necessary, by a valuation allowance for the amount of tax benefits which are not expected to be realized. Investment tax credits are recognized on the flow through method.

The provision (benefit) for income taxes consists of the following:



(In thousands)	2016			2015			2014
Current
U.S. Federal	$	21,667		$	24,809		$	22,705
State	2,899			2,382			3,797
Foreign	551			137			1,112
Deferred
U.S. Federal	(2,871		)	703			(3,035		)
State	(1,140		)	(1,019		)	(655		)
Foreign	(745		)	64			(987		)
	$	20,361		$	27,076		$	22,937

The effective tax rates differ from the statutory federal income tax rate as follows:



	2016		2015		2014
Statutory Federal Income Tax Rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Permanent Items
Non-deductible Stock Compensation Expense	1.1	%	0.6	%	0.6	%
Domestic Production Activity Deduction	(3.3	)%	(2.9	)%	(2.6	)%
Other	0.2	%	0.2	%	0.1	%
Foreign Tax Benefits	(1.1	)%	(1.1	)%	(1.7	)%
State Income Tax, Net of Federal Income Tax Effect	1.8	%	0.9	%	2.6	%
Research and Development Tax Credits	(3.7	)%	(2.7	)%	(4.3	)%
Other	(0.4	)%	(1.2	)%	(0.7	)%
Effective Tax Rate	29.6	%	28.8	%	29.0	%

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes.

No provision has been made for U.S. federal or foreign taxes on that portion of certain foreign subsidiaries’ undistributed earnings ($13.1 million at December 31, 2016) considered to be permanently reinvested. It is not practicable to determine the amount of tax that would be payable if these amounts were repatriated to the U.S.

Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31, are as follows:



(In thousands)	2016			2015
Deferred Tax Assets:
Asset Reserves	$	9,208		$	8,709
Deferred Compensation	8,378			7,986
Capital Lease Basis Difference	1,690			1,753
State Investment and Research and Development Tax Credit Carryforwards, Net of Federal Tax	665			533
Customer Advanced Payments and Deferred Revenue	3,750			1,722
State Net Operating Loss Carryforwards and Other	4,282			2,401
Total Gross Deferred Tax Assets	27,973			23,104
Valuation Allowance for State Deferred Tax Assets and Tax Credit Carryforwards, Net of Federal Tax	(3,816		)	(2,640		)
Deferred Tax Assets	24,157			20,464
Deferred Tax Liabilities:
Depreciation	12,972			12,561
Goodwill and Intangible Assets	18,558			20,113
Other	1,280			1,199
Deferred Tax Liabilities	32,810			33,873
Net Deferred Tax Liabilities	$	(8,653	)	$	(13,409	)

The net deferred tax assets and liabilities presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows at December 31:



(In thousands)	2016			2015
Other Assets — Long-term	$	2,644		$	1,558
Deferred Tax Liabilities — Long-term	(11,297		)	(14,967		)
Net Deferred Tax Liabilities	$	(8,653	)	$	(13,409	)

At December 31, 2016, state tax credit carryforwards amounted to approximately $1.0 million, of which $0.8 million will expire from 2017 through 2030 and $0.2 million will carryforward until utilized. At December 31, 2016, state net operating loss carryforwards which the Company expects to utilize amounted to approximately $8.2 million and expire at various dates between 2032 and 2034.

Due to the uncertainty as to the Company’s ability to generate sufficient taxable income in certain states in the future and utilize certain of the Company’s state operating loss carryforwards before they expire, the Company has recorded a valuation allowance accordingly. These state net operating loss carryforwards amount to approximately $52.9 million and expire at various dates from 2021 through 2035. The excess tax benefits associated with stock option exercises are recorded directly to shareholders’ equity only when realized and amounted to approximately $0.8 million, $3.0 million and $5.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014 respectively.

The Company has analyzed its filing positions in all of the federal and state jurisdictions where it is required to file income tax returns, as well as all open tax years in these jurisdictions. Should the Company need to accrue a liability for uncertain tax benefits, any interest associated with that liability would be recorded as interest expense. Penalties, if any, would be recorded as operating expenses. As of December 31, 2016, we no longer have any unrecognized tax benefits. Reserves for uncertain tax positions that had been recorded pursuant to ASC Topic 740-10 as of December 31, 2014 were reversed during the year-ended December 31, 2015. No additional reserves for uncertain income tax positions were deemed necessary for the year ended December 31, 2016. A reconciliation of the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties which are insignificant, is as follows:



(in thousands)	2016		2015			2014
Balance at Beginning of the Year	$	—	$	181		$	1,940
Decreases as a Result of Tax Positions Taken in Prior Years	—		(181		)	(1,901		)
Increases as a Result of Tax Positions Taken in the Current Year	—		—			142
Balance at End of the Year	$	—	$	—		$	181

There are no penalties or interest liabilities accrued as of December 31, 2016 or 2015, nor are any material penalties or interest costs included in expense for each of the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014. The years under which we conducted our evaluation coincided with the tax years currently still subject to examination by major federal and state tax jurisdictions, those being 2013 through 2016 for federal purposes and 2012 through 2016 for state purposes.

Pretax income from the Company’s foreign subsidiaries amounted to $1.6 million, $3.6 million and $4.3 million for 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The balance of pretax earnings for each of those years were domestic.