Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Income tax expense was as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2019			2018
Current income tax expense (benefit)	$	14,999		$	746
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	(1,044		)	10,411
Income tax expense, as reported	$	13,955		$	11,157

Effective tax rate	10.7		%	9.5		%

We had a net deferred tax liability totaling $21.0 million at March 31, 2019 and a net deferred tax asset totaling $19.8 million at December 31, 2018. The change in net deferred taxes was primarily related to unrealized gains on available-for-sale securities during the three months ended March 31, 2019. No valuation allowance for deferred tax assets was recorded at March 31, 2019 as management believes it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will be realized against deferred tax liabilities and projected future taxable income.

The effective income tax rates differed from the U.S. statutory federal income tax rates of 21% during the comparable periods primarily due to the effect of tax-exempt income from loans, securities and life insurance policies and the income tax effects associated with stock-based compensation. There were no unrecognized tax benefits during any of the reported periods. Interest and/or penalties related to income taxes are reported as a component of income tax expense. Such amounts were not significant during the reported periods.

We file income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction. We are no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2015.