INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

INCOME TAXES [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

14. INCOME TAXES

Components of the provision for income taxes were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2024			2023		2022
Current:
Federal	$	4,496		$	5,825	$	1,864
State		2,566			2,185		644
Total		7,062			8,010		2,508
Deferred:
Federal		(1,555	)		989		767
State		(687	)		643		527
Total		(2,242	)		1,632		1,294
Total provision	$	4,820		$	9,642	$	3,802

Effective Tax rate

The reconciliation of the effective tax rate to the U.S. Statutory Federal Income tax rate was:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2024			2023				2022
Income before taxes	$	14,711		$	35,639			$	16,436
Expected tax	$	3,089	21.0%	$	7,484		21.0%	$	3,452		21.0%
State tax (net of federal benefit)		1,483	10.1%		2,234		6.3%		925		5.6%
Other		248	1.7%		(76	)	-0.2%		(575	)	-3.5%
Total	$	4,820	32.8%	$	9,642		27.1%	$	3,802		23.1%

Deferred Taxes

The components of the non-current deferred tax assets (liabilities) were as follows:

	At December 31,
	2024			2023
Gross noncurrent deferred tax assets (liabilities)
Operating lease liability	$	40,209		$	26,835
Provision for credit losses		17,558			14,388
Finance lease liability		7,835			4,390
Depreciation and amortization		3,142			4,180
Stock-based compensation		843			1,223
Net operating loss carryforwards		807			1,040
Accrued expenses		26			225
Other intangibles		23			24
Pension plan liabilities		(416	)		(202	)
Goodwill		(603	)		(618	)
Finance lease right of use assets		(7,161	)		(4,224	)
Operating lease right-of-use assets		(36,904	)		(24,043	)
Noncurrent deferred tax assets, net	$	25,359		$	23,218

As of December 31, 2024, and 2023, the Company had gross net operating losses (“NOL”) of $14.0 million and $18.1 million, respectively, for state tax purposes and none for federal. While some states NOL can be carried forward indefinitely, the majority of state NOLs expire in 2033 and end in 2037 if not utilized.