Nature’s Sunshine Products, Inc. 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, 2019

Our financial statements are based on enacted law and related guidance received as of December 31, 2019. The U.S. Treasury has recently issued final regulations providing additional guidance on various provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and it is expected that additional regulations and guidance will be forthcoming. We will continue to evaluate the impact, if any, of new regulations and guidance and will recognize any resulting impact in the period such guidance is received.

As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act , distributions of profits from foreign affiliates are not expected to result in material incremental U.S. tax impacts in the future. However, due to tax treaties between the U.S. and many of the jurisdictions in which we operate, some profit distributions may be subject to withholding taxes. Furthermore, provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act such as GILTI (global intangible low-taxed income), FDII (foreign-derived intangible income), deduction limitations on interest expense and executive compensation, as well as other tax reform changes may continue to impact our future taxes.

We have elected the period cost method (costs are treated as a current period expense when incurred) under U.S. GAAP as it relates to GILTI income inclusions in U.S. taxable income. Each reporting period we analyze our indefinite reinvestment assertions with respect to undistributed foreign earnings. As of December 31, 2019, we continue to assert that we do not intend to reinvest undistributed foreign earnings indefinitely in our foreign subsidiaries.

Income (loss) from continuing operations before provision (benefit) for income taxes are taxed under the following jurisdictions (dollar amounts in thousands):


Year Ended December 31,	2019		2018
Domestic	$	1,770	$	(10,069)
Foreign	13,872		13,269
Total	$	15,642	$	3,200

Components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2019 are as follows (dollar amounts in thousands):


Year Ended December 31,	2019		2018
Current:
Federal	$	(476)	$	(1,823)
State	94		(70)
Foreign	4,816		6,371
Subtotal	4,434		4,478
Deferred:
Federal	3,044		605
State	475		296
Foreign	760		(977)
Subtotal	4,279		(76)
Total provision for income taxes	$	8,713	$	4,402

The provision (benefit) for income taxes, as a percentage of income from continuing operations before provision (benefit) for income taxes, differs from the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate due to the following:


Year Ended December 31,	2019		2018
Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate	21.0	%	21.0	%
State income taxes, net of U.S. federal income tax benefit	2.9		5.5
U.S. tax impact of foreign operations	12.3		102.5
Valuation allowance change	10.3		(13.9)
Unrecognized tax benefits	(3.3)		(58.7)

Permanent foreign items	4.4		28.6
Withholding tax on royalties	4.2		20.0

Stock compensation	7.1		12.7
Tax return to provision differences	(3.7)		11.7
Elimination of provision on intercompany transactions	(0.6)		4.4
Other	1.1		3.8
Effective income tax rate	55.7	%	137.6	%

Pretax earnings of a foreign subsidiary or affiliate are subject to U.S. taxation when effectively repatriated.

Adjustments relating to the U.S. impact of foreign operations increased the effective tax rate by 12.3 percentage points in 2019 and increased the effective tax rate by 102.5 percentage points in 2018. The components of this calculation were:


Components of U.S. tax impact of foreign operations	2019		2018

Foreign tax credits	(6.3)	%	(17.6)	%
Foreign tax rate differentials	3.6		37.3
Foreign withholding taxes	3.9		27.7
Transfer pricing adjustment	4.6		12.1
Impact of GILTI	6.5		43.0


Total	12.3	%	102.5	%

The significant components of the deferred tax assets (liabilities) are as follows (dollar amounts in thousands):


As of December 31,	2019		2018
Inventory	$	1,013	$	1,252
Accrued liabilities	2,511		4,130
Operating lease liabilities	3,639		—
Deferred compensation	273		307
Equity-based compensation	1,127		2,359
Intangibles assets	161		151
Bad debts	92		114
Net operating losses	7,139		7,730
Foreign tax and withholding credits	14,640		13,300

Health insurance accruals	97		145

Other deferred tax assets	2,178		2,438

Valuation allowance	(21,388)		(20,256)
Total deferred tax assets	11,482		11,670
Other deferred tax liabilities	(1,755)		(2,009)
Accelerated depreciation	(3,168)		(2,161)
Right of use assets	(3,315)		—
Total deferred tax liabilities	(8,238)		(4,170)
Total deferred taxes, net	$	3,244	$	7,500

The components of deferred tax assets (liabilities), net are as follows (dollar amounts in thousands):


As of December 31,	2019		2018
Net deferred tax assets	$	4,899	$	9,056
Net deferred tax liabilities	(1,655)		(1,556)
Total deferred taxes, net	$	3,244	$	7,500

We have provided a valuation allowance of $21.4 million and $20.3 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, for certain deferred tax assets, including foreign net operating losses, for which we cannot conclude it is more likely than not that they will be realized. We reviewed our tax positions and increased the valuation allowance by approximately $1.1 million in 2019 primarily due to a domestic increase of $1.3 million and a foreign decrease of $0.2 million. For financial reporting purposes, the increase in valuation allowances increases income tax expenses in the year recorded. At December 31, 2019, we had approximately $14.6 million of foreign tax and withholding credits. Of the $14.6 million credits, $14.3 million are foreign tax credits, most of which expire in 2024 and all of which are fully offset by a valuation allowance.

At December 31, 2019, foreign subsidiaries had unused operating loss carryovers for tax purposes of approximately $7.1 million. The net operating losses will expire at various dates from 2020 through 2029, with the exception of those in some foreign jurisdictions where there is no expiration. The foreign net operating losses have a full valuation allowance recorded against them.

We are subject to regular audits by federal, state and foreign tax authorities. These audits may result in additional tax liabilities. We believe we have appropriately provided for income taxes for all years. Several factors drive the calculation of our tax reserves. Some of these factors include: (i) the expiration of various statutes of limitations; (ii) changes in tax law and regulations; (iii) the issuance of tax rulings; and (iv) settlements with tax authorities. Changes in any of these factors may result in adjustments to our reserves, which would impact our reported financial results.

Our U.S. federal income tax returns for 2016 through 2018 are open to examination for federal tax purposes. We have several foreign tax jurisdictions that have open tax years from 2014 through 2018.

The total outstanding balance for liabilities related to unrecognized tax benefits at December 31, 2019 and 2018 was $1.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, all of which would favorably impact the effective tax rate if recognized. Included in these amounts is approximately $0.1 million and $0.2 million, respectively, of combined interest and penalties. We decreased

interest and penalties approximately $33,000 and $0.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We account for interest expense and penalties for unrecognized tax benefits as part of our income tax provision.

During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we added approximately $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively, to our liability for unrecognized tax benefits. Included in these amounts are approximately $0.1 million and $0.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, related to interest and penalties. In addition, we recorded a benefit related to the lapse of applicable statute of limitations of approximately $0.8 million and $2.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, all of which favorably impacted our effective tax rate.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of liabilities associated with uncertain tax benefits, excluding interest and penalties, is as follows for the years (dollar amounts in thousands):


Year Ended December 31,	2019		2018
Unrecognized tax benefits, opening balance	$	1,966	$	2,956
Settlement of liability reclassified as income tax payable	—		—
Payments on liability	(16)		—
Tax positions taken in a prior period
Gross increases	—		—
Gross decreases	(9)		(467)
Tax positions taken in the current period
Gross increases	132		92
Gross decreases	—		—
Lapse of applicable statute of limitations	(686)		(591)
Currency translation adjustments	(2)		(24)
Unrecognized tax benefits, ending balance	$	1,385	$	1,966

We anticipate that liabilities related to unrecognized tax benefits will increase approximately $0 to $0.1 million within the next twelve months due to additional transactions related to commissions and transfer pricing.

We believe that it is reasonably possible that unrecognized tax benefits may decrease by $0 to $1.3 million within the next twelve months due to the expiration of statutes of limitations in various jurisdictions.

Although we believe our estimates are reasonable, we can make no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different from that which it has reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals. Such differences could have a material impact on our income tax provision and operating results in the period in which we make such determination.