We believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law by chancellors particularly experienced in resolving corporate disputes and in the application of the Securities Act by federal judges, as applicable, efficient administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection against the burdens of multi-forum litigation. However, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, employees and agents as it may limit any stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholder finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or agents. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, would be stockholders’ sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain all available funds and future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain on an investment in our common stock for the foreseeable future.
Our ability to use our net operating losses and research and development tax credits to offset future taxable income or income tax liabilities may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2020, we had U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, of $212.5 million and $106.7 million, respectively, which may be available to offset future taxable income, if any, that begin to expire in 2027 and 2025, respectively. Additionally, we had federal NOLs of $78.2 million which do not expire but are (for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020) generally limited in their usage to an annual deduction equal to 80% of taxable income. In addition, we had federal and state research and development tax credits of $3.1 million and $2.0 million, respectively, which may be available to offset future tax liabilities and begin to expire in 2028 and 2024, respectively. In general, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change by value in its equity ownership by one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders owning at least 5% of the corporation’s stock over a rolling three-year period, is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-ownership change NOLs and tax credits to offset future taxable income or income tax liabilities for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Our existing NOLs and tax credits may be subject to limitations arising from previous ownership changes. Future changes in our stock ownership, including as a result of the IPO, some of which might be beyond our control, could result in ownership changes. For these reasons, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of the NOLs and tax credits even if we attain profitability.
General risk factors
Changes in tax laws, including as a result of the 2020 United States presidential and congressional elections, may impact our future financial position and results of operations.
New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, or interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us, any of which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. In particular, the recent presidential and congressional elections in the United States could result in significant changes in, and uncertainty with respect to, tax legislation, regulation and government policy directly affecting our business or indirectly affecting us because of impacts on our customers and suppliers. For example, the United States government may enact significant changes to the taxation of business entities including, among others, a permanent increase in the corporate income tax rate, an increase in the tax rate applicable to the global intangible low-taxed income and elimination of certain exemptions, and the imposition of minimum taxes or surtaxes on certain types of income. The likelihood of these changes being enacted or implemented is unclear. We are currently unable to predict whether such changes will occur and, if so, the ultimate impact on our business. To the extent that such changes have a