The Company files tax returns in United States (“U.S.”) Federal, state and local jurisdictions, plus Argentina and the United Kingdom (“U.K.”).

United States and international components of income before income taxes were as follows:

The income tax provision (benefit) consisted of the following:

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the expected tax expense (benefit) based on the statutory rate is reconciled with the actual tax expense (benefit) as follows:

As of December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company’s deferred tax assets consisted of the effects of temporary differences attributable to the following:

As of December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $56,552,000, $62,687,000 and $42,040,000 of gross U.S. federal, state and local net operating loss (“NOL”) carryovers which may be carried forward for 20 years and begin to expire in 2019. These NOL carryovers are subject to annual limitations under Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code when there is a greater than 50% ownership change, as determined under the regulations. Based on our analysis, there was a change of control on or about June 30, 2012 and we have determined that, due to the annual limitations under Section 382, approximately $6,315,000 of NOLs will expire unused and are not included in available NOLs stated above. Therefore, we have reduced the related deferred tax asset for U.S. NOL carryovers by approximately $2,810,000 from June 30, 2012 forward. The Company’s U.S. NOL’s generated through the date of the ownership change on June 30, 2012 are subject to an annual limitation of approximately $1,004,000. To date, no additional annual limitations have been triggered, but the Company remains subject to the possibility that a future greater than 50% ownership change could trigger additional annual limitation on the usage of NOLs.

As of December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $442,000 of gross U.K. NOL carryovers which do not expire. Finally, as of December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $440,000 of Argentine tax credits which may be carried forward 10 years and begin to expire in 2018.

In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the future generation of taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and taxing strategies in making this assessment. Based on this assessment, management has established a full valuation allowance against all of the net deferred tax assets for each period, since it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The valuation allowance for the year ended December 31, 2017 decreased by approximately $3,299,000 and for the year ended December 31, 2016 increased by approximately $3,492,000.

Management has evaluated and concluded that there were no material uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2017 and 2016. The Company does not expect any significant changes in its unrecognized tax benefits within twelve months of the reporting date. The Company has U.S. tax returns subject to examination by tax authorities beginning with those filed for the year ended December 31, 2014 (or the year ended December 31, 1999 if the Company were to utilize its NOLs). No tax audits were commenced or were in process during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. The Company’s policy is to classify assessments, if any, for tax related interest as interest expense and penalties as general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Act”) was enacted in December 2017 making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Changes include but are not limited to (a) the reduction of the U.S. corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017; (b) the transition of U.S. international tax taxation from a worldwide tax system to a territorial system; and (c) a one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings. The latter two changes aren’t expected to impact the Company as its Argentine and U.K entities generated cumulative losses. The change in tax law required the Company to remeasure existing net deferred tax assets using the lower rate in the period of enactment resulting in an income tax expense of approximately $6.8 million which is fully offset by the corresponding tax benefit of $6.8 million from the reduction in the valuation allowance in the year ended December 31, 2017. There were no specific impacts of Tax Reform that could not be reasonably estimated which the Company accounted for under the prior tax law. However, further analysis of the estimates and guidance on the application of the law, could result in additional revisions during the allowable one-year measurement period, as outlined in Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118.