16. INCOME TAXES

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company recorded ($940) and $0 of income tax benefit which was primarily driven by a partial valuation allowance release. For financial reporting purposes, Loss before provision for income taxes, includes the following components (in thousands):

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

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A reconciliation of the expected income tax (benefit) computed using the federal statutory income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 is as follows:

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As of December 31, 2020, and 2019, deferred tax assets consist of the following (in thousands):

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Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income. As required by ASC 740 Income Taxes, the Company evaluated the positive and negative evidence bearing upon its ability to realize the deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2020. As a result of the fact that the Company has incurred tax losses from inception, the Company has determined that it was more likely than not that the Company would not realize the benefits of federal and state net deferred tax assets. As a result of a recent acquisition, the Company recorded a U.S. deferred tax liability related to a non-tax-deductible intangible asset recognized in the financial statements. The acquired deferred tax liability is a source of income to support recognition of Company’s existing deferred tax assets. Pursuant to ASC 805, the impact on a Company’s existing deferred tax assets and liabilities caused by an acquisition should be recorded in the financial statements outside of acquisition accounting. Accordingly, the Company recorded a $0.9 million income tax benefit for the release in the valuation allowance related to the acquired intangible. The U.S maintains a valuation allowance on the overall U.S. net deferred tax asset as it is deemed more likely than not the U.S. net deferred tax asset will not be realized. Accordingly, a full valuation allowance was established against the net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Changes in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were as follows (in thousands):

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As of December 31, 2020, and 2019, the Company had federal net operating loss carryforwards of $273.8 million and $197.7 million, respectively, which may be available to reduce future taxable income. These carryforwards generated in 2017 and prior expire at various dates through 2037. The $228.3 million in carryforwards generated from 2018 forward do not expire. As of December 31, 2020, and 2019, the Company had State net operating loss carryforwards of $243.2 million and $184.2 million, respectively, which may be available to reduce future taxable income. These carryforwards expire at various dates through 2040. In addition, the Company had federal and state research and development tax credit carryforwards of $13.5 million available to reduce future tax liabilities, which will expire at various dates through 2040.

Utilization of the Company’s net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards and research and development (“R&D”) credit carryforwards may be subject to a substantial annual limitation due to ownership change limitations that have occurred previously or that could occur in the future in accordance with Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (“Section 382”) as well as similar state provisions. These ownership changes may limit the amount of NOL and R&D credit carryforwards that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income and taxes, respectively. In general, an ownership change as defined by Section 382 results from transactions increasing the ownership of certain shareholders or public groups in the stock of a corporation by more than 50% over a three-year period. The Company has not conducted a study to assess whether a change of control has occurred or whether there have been multiple changes of control since inception due to significant complexity with such a study. If the Company has experienced a change of control, as defined by Section 382, at any time since inception, utilization of the net operating loss carryforward or research and development tax credits carryforwards would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382. Although the Company has not completed its analysis, it is reasonably possible that its federal NOLs available to offset future taxable income could materially decrease. This reduction would be offset by an equal and offsetting adjustment to the existing valuation allowance. Given the offsetting adjustments to the existing valuation allowance, any ownership change is not expected to have an adverse material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Any limitation may result in expiration of a portion of the net operating loss carryforward or research and development tax credit carryforwards before utilization.

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal tax jurisdiction, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Since the Company is in a loss carryforward position, the Company is generally subject to examination by the U.S. federal, state and local income tax authorities for all tax years in which a loss carryforward is available. The Company is currently not under examination by the Internal Revenue Service of any other jurisdiction for any tax years. The Company has not recorded any interest or penalties on any unrecognized tax benefits since inception. The Company does not believe material uncertain tax positions have arisen to date.