Income Taxes

The income tax expense (benefit) attributable to income from operations is summarized as follows:



(in thousands)	Current		Deferred			Total
2017
Federal	$	26,860	$	14,749		$	41,609
State	1,162		(151		)	1,011
Total	$	28,022	$	14,598		$	42,620
2016
Federal	$	22,943	$	1,551		$	24,494
State	2,243		308			2,551
Total	$	25,186	$	1,859		$	27,045
2015
Federal	$	22,955	$	2,841		$	25,796
State	3,103		63			3,166
Total	$	26,058	$	2,904		$	28,962

The primary reasons for the differences between income tax expense and the amount computed by applying the statutory federal income tax rate to earnings are as follows:



	2017		2016		2015
Statutory federal income tax rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal benefit	0.7		1.9		2.4
Tax exempt income	(2.6	)	(2.7	)	(2.5	)
Excess benefits from equity-based compensation	(1.6	)	(1.4	)	0.0
Bank-owned life insurance income	(0.8	)	(0.8	)	(0.8	)
Federal tax credit	(2.0	)	(0.4	)	(0.8	)
Enactment of Federal tax reform	15.7		0.0		0.0
All other	0.4		(0.3	)	(0.2	)
Total	44.8	%	31.3	%	33.1	%

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities as of December 31 were as follows:



(in thousands)	2017			2016			2015
Deferred tax assets:
Allowance for loan and lease losses	$	9,577		$	13,737		$	12,411
Interest income on nonperforming loans	417			214			1,207
Compensation and benefits	10,406			14,504			14,032
Purchase accounting adjustments	0			527			1,920
Liabilities held at fair value	3			1			218
Tax credit carryforward	0			0			831
Other	2,515			3,088			2,546
Total	$	22,918		$	32,071		$	33,165
Deferred tax liabilities:
Prepaid pension	$	8,140		$	11,439		$	10,992
Depreciation	2,686			3,006			3,277
Intangibles	776			882			567
Purchase accounting adjustments	194			0			0
Other	1,919			2,901			2,144
Total deferred tax liabilities	$	13,715		$	18,228		$	16,980
Net deferred tax asset at year-end	$	9,203		$	13,843		$	16,185
Net deferred tax asset at beginning of year	$	13,843		$	16,185		$	19,089
Decrease in net deferred tax asset	(4,640		)	(2,342		)	(2,904		)
Purchase accounting adjustments, net	0			(483		)	0
Federal tax reform remeasurement of AOCI deferred tax asset	$	9,958		$	0		$	0
Deferred tax expense	$	14,598		$	1,859		$	2,904

The above analysis does not include recorded deferred tax assets (liabilities) of $4.3 million and $5.1 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to net unrealized holdings losses/(gains) in the available-for-sale securities portfolio. In addition, the analysis excludes the recorded deferred tax assets of $12.6 million and $18.6 million, as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to employee benefit plans. However, the $10.0 million included above in the line 'Federal tax reform remeasurement of AOCI deferred tax asset' reflects the remeasurement of the net deferred taxes related to unrealized holding losses/(gains) in the available-for-sale portfolio and employee benefit plans.

Realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income or the existence of sufficient taxable income within the carry-back period. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, management considers the scheduled reversal of the deferred tax liabilities, the level of historical taxable income, and the projected future taxable income over the periods in which the temporary differences comprising the deferred tax assets will be deductible. Based on its assessment, management determined that no valuation allowance is necessary at December 31, 2017 and 2016.

At December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, the Company had no ASC 740-10 unrecognized tax benefits. The Company does not expect the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits to significantly increase within the next twelve months. The Company recognizes interest and penalties on unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense in its Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company is subject to U.S. federal income tax and income tax in various state jurisdictions. All tax years ending after December 31, 2011 are open to examination by the taxing authorities.

On December 22, 2017, H.R.1, commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") was signed into law. The Tax Act reduces our corporate federal tax rate from 35% to 21% effective January 1, 2018. As a result we are required to re-measure, through income tax expense, our deferred tax assets and liabilities using the enacted rate at which we expect them to be recovered or settled. The re-measurement of our net deferred tax asset resulted in additional income tax expense of $14.9 million.

Also, on December 22, 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") released Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 118 ("SAB 118") to address any uncertainty or diversity of view in practice in accounting for the income tax effects of the Tax Act in situations where a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared, or analyzed in reasonable detail to complete this accounting in the reporting period that includes the enactment date. SAB 118 allows for a measurement period not to extend beyond one year from the Tax Act's enactment date to complete the necessary accounting.

We recorded provisional amounts of deferred income taxes using reasonable estimates in areas where information necessary to complete the accounting was not available, prepared, or analyzed. One area was our deferred tax liability for temporary differences between the tax and financial reporting bases of fixed assets principally due to the accelerated depreciation under the Tax Act which allows for full expensing of qualified property purchased and placed in service after September 27, 2017. We made no adjustment to our deferred tax assets representing future deductions for accrued compensation that may be subject to new limitations under Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) which, generally, limits the annual deduction for certain compensation paid to certain employees to $1.0 million. There is uncertainty in applying the newly-enacted rules to existing contracts, and we are waiting further regulatory guidance before completing our analysis.

We will complete and record the income tax effects of these provisional items during the period the necessary information becomes available. This measurement period will not extend beyond December 22, 2018.