Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Income Taxes

v3.19.3
Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes INCOME TAXES
As a result of the IPO and the Transactions, Greenlane owns a portion of the Common Units of the Operating Company, which is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As a partnership, the Operating Company is generally not subject to U.S. federal and certain state and local income taxes. Any taxable income or loss generated by the Operating Company is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members in accordance with the terms of the Operating Agreement. The Operating Company is subject to taxes in foreign jurisdictions. Greenlane is subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes based on its share of the Operating Company’s pass-through taxable income.

The effective tax rate differs from the statutory tax rate primarily due to the Operating Company’s pass-through structure for U.S. income tax purposes and the valuation allowance against the deferred tax asset.
The Company assessed the realizability of its deferred tax assets as of September 30, 2019 and management believes that it is not more likely than not that the results of operations will generate sufficient taxable income to realize portions of the net operating loss benefits. Consequently, the Company established a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets as of September 30, 2019, thus reducing the carrying balance to $0, and recognized a corresponding increase to the income tax provision of $11.0 million in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company did not have any unrecognized tax benefits as a result of tax positions taken during a prior period or during the current period. No interest or penalties have been recorded as a result of tax uncertainties.
Tax Receivable Agreement (TRA)
The Company entered into the TRA, with the Operating Company and each of the Members that provides for the payment by the Operating Company to the Members of 85% of the amount of tax benefits, if any, that the Company may actually realize (or in some circumstances are deemed to realize) as a result of (i) increases in tax basis resulting from any future redemptions that are funded by the Company or exchanges of Common Units described above in “Note 1—Business Operations and Organization” and (ii) certain other tax benefits attributable to payments made under the TRA.
The annual tax benefits are computed by calculating the income taxes due, including such tax benefits, and the income taxes due without such benefits. The Operating Company expects to benefit from the remaining 15% of any tax benefits that it may actually realize. The TRA payments are not conditioned upon any continued ownership interest in the Operating Company. The rights of each noncontrolling interest holder under the TRA are assignable to transferees of its interest in the Operating Company. The timing and amount of aggregate payments due under the TRA may vary based on a number of factors, including the amount and timing of the taxable income the Operating Company generates each year and the applicable tax rate.
As noted above, the Company evaluated the realizability of the deferred tax assets resulting from the IPO and the Transactions completed in April 2019 and established a full valuation allowance against those benefits as of September 30, 2019. As a result, the Company determined that payments to noncontrolling interest holders under the TRA are no longer probable and estimable. Based on this assessment, the Company reduced its TRA liability as of September 30, 2019 to $0, and recognized a gain of $5.7 million within Other income (expense), net, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company did not make any payments, inclusive of interest, to members of the Operating Company pursuant to the TRA.