Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

The following table sets forth information regarding the Company’s tax provision and applicable tax rates for the periods indicated:


	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2021			2020
	(Dollars in thousands)
Combined federal and state income tax provisions	$	14,171		$	1,298
Effective income tax rates	22.9		%	13.3		%

The Company’s provision for income taxes was $14.2 million and $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase in income tax expense was due primarily to higher pre-tax income during the three months ended March 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020, decreasing the impact on the effective rate related to net favorable permanent differences, including investment tax credits and tax exempt income.

The Company assesses the realizability of deferred tax assets and whether it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The Company considers projections of future taxable income during the periods in which deferred tax assets and liabilities are scheduled to reverse. Additionally, in determining the availability of operating loss carrybacks and other tax attributes, both projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies are considered in making this assessment. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had a valuation allowance of $12.0 million related to the 2020 stock donation of $91.3 million and cash contribution of $3.7 million to the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation (the “Foundation”). Based upon the level of available historical taxable income and projections for future taxable income over the periods which the deferred tax assets are realizable, the Company believes it is more likely than not that the Company will realize the remainder of the net deferred tax assets as of March 31, 2021.

The Company files tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various states. As of March 31, 2021, the Company is no longer subject to exam for tax years before 2017 by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and state tax authorities. The Company believes that its income tax returns have been filed based upon applicable statutes, regulations and case law in effect at the time of filing, however the IRS and/or state jurisdiction, upon examination, could disagree with the Company’s interpretation.

Management has performed an evaluation of the Company’s tax positions and determined that a reserve for unrecognized tax benefits at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 was not needed.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for income taxes. Disclosures may include net deferred tax liability or asset recognized in an enterprise's statement of financial position, net change during the year in the total valuation allowance, approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference and carryforward that gives rise to a significant portion of deferred tax liabilities and deferred tax assets, utilization of a tax carryback, and tax uncertainties information.

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