Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

12) Income Taxes  

 The accompanying financial statements are reported on a fiscal year, however, the Company and its corporate subsidiaries file Federal and State income tax returns on a calendar year.

The current and deferred income tax expense for the three and six months ended March 31, 2021, and March 31, 2020 are as follows:

	Three Months Ended					Six Months Ended
	March 31,					March 31,
(in thousands)	2021		2020			2021		2020
Income before income taxes	$	117,316	$	83,108		$	170,004	$	122,645
Current income tax expense		23,130		25,814			34,357		36,260
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)		9,022		(1,114	)		12,623		222
Total income tax expense	$	32,152	$	24,700		$	46,980	$	36,482

At March 31, 2021, we did not have unrecognized income tax benefits.

Our continuing practice is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters as a component of income tax expense. We file U.S. Federal income tax returns and various state and local returns. A number of years may elapse before an uncertain tax position is audited and finally resolved. For our Federal income tax returns we have four tax years subject to examination. In our major state tax jurisdictions of New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, we have four years that are subject to examination. In the state tax jurisdiction of New Jersey we have five tax years that are subject to examination. While it is often difficult to predict the final outcome or the timing of resolution of any particular uncertain tax position, based on our assessment of many factors, including past experience and interpretation of tax law, we believe that our provision for income taxes reflect the most probable outcome. This assessment relies on estimates and assumptions and may involve a series of complex judgments about future events.