Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

10. Accrued liabilities

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10. Accrued liabilities
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Payables and Accruals [Abstract]  
Accrued liabilities

Accrued liabilities as of September 30, 2017, and December 31, 2016, consist of the following:

 

    September 30, 2017     December 31, 2016  
Sales tax estimates, including interest   $ 4,610     $ 4,203  
Compensation and benefits     741       2,431  
Accrued incentive and rebate checks     192       358  
Accrued rent     238       263  
Warranty     14       26  
Accrued payables           570  
Deferred revenue     322       227  
Other     110       810  
    $ 6,227     $ 8,888  

 

Sales and Use Tax Assessment

 

We operate in twenty-three states in the U.S. and in various provinces in Canada. From time to time, we are subject to sales and use tax audits that could result in additional taxes, penalties and interest owed to various taxing authorities.

 

As previously disclosed, the California Board of Equalization (“BOE”) conducted a sales and use tax examination covering the Company’s California operations for 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Company believed it was exempt from collecting sales taxes under service agreements with utility customers that included appliance replacement programs. During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company received communication from the BOE indicating they were not in agreement with the Company’s interpretation of the law. As a result, the Company applied for and, as of February 9, 2015, received approval to participate in the California Board of Equalization’s Managed Audit Program. The period covered under this program included 2011, 2012, 2013 and extended through the nine-month period ended September 30, 2014.

 

On April 13, 2017 the Company received the formal BOE assessment for sales tax for tax years 2011, 2012 and 2013 in the amount of $4.1 million plus applicable interest of $0.5 million related to the appliance replacement programs that we administered on behalf of our customers on which we did not assess, collect or remit sales tax. The Company intends to appeal this assessment and continue to engage the services of our existing retained sales tax experts throughout the appeal process. The BOE tax assessment is subject to protest and appeal, and would not need to be funded until the matter has been fully resolved through the appeal process. The Company anticipates that resolution of the BOE assessment could take up to two years.