NOTE 7 - INCOME TAXES

The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC Topic 740: Income Taxes, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statements and the tax basis of assets and liabilities, and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax losses and tax credit carry-forwards. ASC Topic 740 additionally requires the establishment of a valuation allowance to reflect the likelihood of realization of deferred tax assets.

The table below summarizes the differences between the Companies’ effective tax rate and the statutory federal rate as follows for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:

The Company has a deferred tax asset, which is summarized as follows at December 31:

The Company does not have any taxable income in carryback years in which net operating losses (“NOLs”) can be carried back to. At December 31, 2018, the Company did not have any taxable temporary differences that will reverse and generate taxable income and was still in a cumulative loss position. Based on all the available information, including tax planning strategies and future forecast, the Company does not believe that it is more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets will be realized; therefore, a full valuation allowance has been recorded against its net deferred tax assets.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had NOL carry-forwards for federal and state purposes of approximately $11.4 million and $29.9 million, respectively, which will begin to expire in 2033. The utilization of NOL and credit carry-forwards may be limited under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) Section 382, as amended, and similar state provisions. IRC Section 382 generally imposes an annual limitation on the amount of NOL carry-forwards that may be used to offset taxable income where a corporation has undergone significant changes in stock ownership.

On December 22, 2017, the U.S. federal government enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as amended (the “2017 Tax Act”). Management reviewed and incorporated the new tax bill implications in the 2017 financial statements. The main change is the re-measurement of deferred taxes at the new corporate tax rate of 21%, which reduced the Company’s net deferred tax assets, before valuation allowance, by $1.2 million and $9.0 million for the years ended December 2018 and 2017, respectively. Due to full valuation allowance, the change in deferred taxes was fully offset by the change in valuation allowance.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company has not recorded liability for unrecognized tax benefit. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017 the Company did not increase or decrease penalties or interest in connection with liability for unrecognized tax benefit. The Company does not expect its unrecognized tax benefits to change significantly over the next 12 months. The Company files U.S. and state income tax returns with varying statutes of limitations. The 2014 through 2017 tax years generally remain subject to examination by federal and state tax authorities.

In 2018, the company dissolved those subsidiaries that were required to file tax returns that had no tax due for 2018. Marathon Patent Group, Inc. moved its headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada on June 1, 2018 so it is required to file a final tax return with the state of California for 2018. The company believes there will be no tax due the state of California other than the $800 Franchise fee all companies are required to file.