Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Reconciliations of Statutory U.S. Federal Income Tax Rates to our Effective Tax Rate

Reconciliations of the statutory U.S. federal income tax rates to our effective tax rate for continuing operations follow:

 

Years ended December 31,	2023		2022		2021
Statutory rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	21.0	%
State tax, net of federal benefit	3.8		4.1		3.1
Business credits	(1.3)		(1.5)		(0.8)
Other, net	1.8		2.0		1.4
Effective tax rate	25.3	%	25.6	%	24.7	%

Components of Provision for Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense consists of:

 

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2023		2022		2021
Current provision (benefit):
Federal	$	175,977	$	205,954	$	259,536
State	44,152		49,427		64,843
Total current provision (benefit)	220,129		255,381		324,379
Deferred provision (benefit):
Federal	(20,687)		(75,978)		47,240
State	(2,537)		(17,692)		8,132
Total deferred provision (benefit)	(23,224)		(93,670)		55,372
Provision for income tax expense	$	196,905	$	161,711	$	379,751

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effect of temporary differences that give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities is summarized below.

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2023		2022
Deferred tax assets:
Loan reserves	$	354,412	$	362,368
Net unrealized losses	24,176		30,160
Accrued expenses not currently deductible	16,297		12,949
Unrecorded tax benefits	11,568		12,916
Research and development costs	26,519		10,929
Stock-based compensation plans	10,847		9,624
Acquired intangible assets	14,536		781
Operating loss carryovers	26		300
Other	1,426		3,837
Total deferred tax assets	459,807		443,864
Deferred tax liabilities:
Student loan premiums and discounts, net	15,908		14,065
Fixed assets	8,533		9,347
Federal deferred for state receivable	1,171		2,111
Other	614		397
Total deferred tax liabilities	26,226		25,920
Net deferred tax assets	$	433,581	$	417,944

Summary of Changes in Unrecognized Tax Benefits

The following table summarizes changes in unrecognized tax benefits:

 

As of December 31, (dollars in thousands)	2023		2022		2021
Unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	79,366	$	75,328	$	63,134
Increases resulting from tax positions taken during a prior period	1,204		6,049		1,496
Decreases resulting from tax positions taken during a prior period	(250)		(1,327)		(1,481)
Increases resulting from tax positions taken during the current period	2,711		11,032		20,743
Decreases related to settlements with taxing authorities	(10,089)		(4,666)		(3,682)
Increases related to settlements with taxing authorities	—		—		96
Reductions related to the lapse of statute of limitations	(4,819)		(7,050)		(4,978)
Unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	68,123	$	79,366	$	75,328