Table:
| (In thousands) | 2019 | 2018 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Deferred tax assets |  |  |
| Inventory | $7,144 | $6,609 |
| Accrued expenses | 2,330 | 2,850 |
| Investments | — | 1,122 |
| Deferred compensation | 5,660 | 4,779 |
| Stock-based compensation | 2,451 | 3,069 |
| Uncertain tax positions related to state taxes and related interest | 241 | 326 |
| Pensions | 7,074 | 5,538 |
| Foreign losses | 2,925 | 3,097 |
| State losses and credit carry-forwards | 3,995 | 8,164 |
| Federal loss and research carry-forwards | 12,171 | 17,495 |
| Lease liabilities | 2,496 | — |
| Capitalized research and development expenditures | 22,230 | — |
| Valuation allowance | (48,616) | (5,816) |
| Total Deferred Tax Assets | 20,101 | 47,233 |
| Deferred tax liabilities |  |  |
| Property, plant and equipment | (2,815) | (3,515) |
| Intellectual property | (5,337) | (6,531) |
| Right of use lease assets | (2,496) | — |
| Investments | (1,892) | — |
| Total Deferred Tax Liabilities | (12,540) | (10,046) |
| Net Deferred Tax Assets | $7,561 | $37,187 |
Paragraphs:
Deferred income taxes on the Consolidated Balance Sheets result from temporary differences between the amount of assets and liabilities recognized for financial reporting and tax purposes. The principal components of our current and non-current deferred taxes were as follows:
In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“the Act”) was signed into law. As a result of the Act, we recognized an estimated expense of $11.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, of which $9.2 million related to the writedown of deferred tax assets and $2.7 million related to tax on unrepatriated foreign earnings. We calculated our best estimate of the impact of the Act in our 2017 year-end income tax provision in accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118, which was issued to address the application of U.S. GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed to finalize the accounting for certain income tax effects of the Act. Additional work to complete a more detailed analysis of historical foreign earnings, as well as the full impact relating to the write-down of deferred tax assets, was completed in the third quarter of 2018 and resulted in a tax benefit of $4.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, non-current deferred taxes related to our investments and our defined benefit pension plan reflect deferred taxes on the net unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale investments and deferred taxes on unrealized losses in our pension plan. The net change in non-current deferred taxes associated with these items, which resulted in a deferred tax benefit of $0.4 million and $2.8 million in 2019 and 2018, respectively, was recorded as an adjustment to other comprehensive income (loss), presented in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
The Company continually reviews the adequacy of our valuation allowance and recognizes the benefits of deferred tax assets only as the reassessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized in accordance with ASC 740, Income Taxes. Due to our recent decrease in revenue and profitability for 2019, and all other positive and negative objective evidence considered as part of our analysis, our ability to consider other subjective evidence such as projections for future growth is limited when evaluating whether our deferred tax assets will be realized. As such, the Company was no longer able to conclude that it was more likely than not that our domestic deferred tax assets would be realized and a valuation allowance against our domestic deferred tax assets was established in the third quarter of 2019. The amount of the deferred tax assets considered realizable may be adjusted in future periods in the event that sufficient evidence is present to support a conclusion that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of our domestic deferred tax assets will be realized.
As of December 31, 2019, the Company had gross deferred tax assets totaling $56.2 million offset by a valuation allowance totaling $48.6 million. Of the valuation allowance, $42.8 million was established in the current year primarily related to our domestic deferred tax assets. The remaining $5.8 million established in prior periods related to state research and development credit carryforwards and foreign net operating loss and research and development credit carryforwards where we lack sufficient activity to realize those deferred tax assets. The remaining $7.6 million in deferred tax assets that were not offset by a valuation allowance are located in various foreign jurisdictions where the Company believes it is more likely than not we will realize these deferred tax assets.
Question:
Why do deferred income taxes appear on the company's Consolidated Balance Sheets?
Answer: temporary differences between the amount of assets and liabilities recognized for financial reporting and tax purposes.