13. INCOME TAXES

For 2019, we will determine our tax expense by estimating an annual effective income tax rate based on current and forecasted business results and enacted tax laws on a quarterly basis and apply this tax rate to our ordinary income or loss to calculate our estimated tax expense or benefit.

The income tax provision for VAALCO consists primarily of Gabonese and United States income taxes.  Our operations in other foreign jurisdictions have a 0% effective tax rate because we have incurred losses in those countries and have full valuation allowances against the corresponding net deferred tax assets.

Provision for income taxes related to income (loss) from continuing operations consists of the following:







Our effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2019 is 77%.   For the three months ended March 31, 2018, we recorded tax expense using the actual tax rate.  For the three months ended March 31, 2019, our overall effective tax rate was impacted by non-deductible items associated with our operations and deducting foreign taxes rather than crediting them for United States tax purposes.   

The Company files income tax returns in all jurisdictions where such requirements exist; however, our primary tax jurisdictions are Gabon and the United States.

As of March 31, 2019, the Company had no material uncertain tax positions.  The Company’s policy is to recognize potential interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense.