Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 9 – Income Taxes

Income tax expense was $8,594,000 for the second quarter of 2019 as compared to $7,217,000 for the same period in 2018. The Company’s effective tax rates on pretax income were 16.96% and 16.09% for the second quarters of 2019 and 2018, respectively. Income tax expense was $15,959,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2019 as compared to $13,462,000 for the same period in 2018. The Company’s effective tax rates on pretax income were 16.57% and 15.72% for the six months ended June 2019 and 2018, respectively. The effective tax rates differ from the statutory federal tax rate of 21% primarily due to tax exempt interest income earned on certain investment securities and loans, the deductibility of dividends paid to our employee stock ownership plan and excess tax benefits related to our directors’ deferred compensation plan.