Loss before income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

The components of the provision (benefit) for income taxes is as follows (in thousands):

A reconciliation of the Company’s statutory income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate is as follows:

The net deferred income tax asset (liability) balance related to the following (in thousands):

The Company notes $0.04 million of a United States state refundable tax credit awarded in fiscal year 2023 has been booked above the income tax line in accordance with US GAAP principles.  As of November 30, 2023, the Company had federal and state net operating losses ("NOLs") carryforwards of approximately $27.8 million and $7.3 million, respectively, which begin to expire in 2025 for federal and state purposes. The federal NOL carryforwards include approximately $13.2 million, which do not expire.  The Company had foreign NOL carryforwards of $0.3 million which can be carried forward indefinitely.  Deferred tax assets, which are offset by deferred tax liabilities, are presented in other assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Future realization of the tax benefits of existing temporary differences and NOL carryforwards ultimately depends on the existence of sufficient taxable income within the carryforward period. As of November 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, the Company performed an evaluation to determine whether a valuation allowance was needed. The Company considered all available evidence, both positive and negative, which included the results of operations for the current and preceding years. The Company determined that it was not possible to reasonably quantify future taxable income and determined that it is more likely than not that all of the worldwide deferred tax assets will not be realized. Accordingly, the Company maintained a full valuation allowance as of  November 30, 2023 and 2022 and a full valuation allowance on the US deferred tax assets as of  November 30, 2023 and 2022.

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 382, use of NOL carryforwards may be limited if the Company experiences a cumulative change in ownership of greater than 50% in a moving three-year period. Ownership changes could impact the Company’s ability to utilize the NOL carryforwards remaining at an ownership change date. The Company last completed a Section 382 analysis regarding whether an ownership change had occurred for Company through November 30, 2021. Based on the analysis, the cumulative ownership change is 17.08%. As a result, no resulting limitation of NOL carryforwards has been considered in determining the full valuation allowance against the related deferred tax assets as noted above.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 requires taxpayers to capitalize and amortize, rather than deduct, research and experimental, or R&E, expenditures under section 174 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. This rule became effective for the Company during the fiscal year ended November 30, 2023 and resulted in the capitalization for income tax purposes of R&E costs of $2.0 million. The Company will amortize these costs for tax purposes over five years if the R&E was performed in the U.S. and over 15 years if the R&E was performed outside the U.S.