Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

Income tax expense was as follows:

	2023			2022			2021
Current income tax expense	$	129,229		$	94,595		$	38,675
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	(14,829)			(4,918)			7,784
Income tax expense, as reported	$	114,400		$	89,677		$	46,459
Effective tax rate	16.1		%	13.4		%	9.5		%

A reconciliation between reported income tax expense and the amounts computed by applying the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 21% to income before income taxes is presented in the following table.

	2023		2022		2021
Income tax expense computed at the statutory rate	$	149,598	$	140,454	$	102,803
Effect of tax-exempt interest	(43,114)		(50,602)		(50,740)
Tax benefit on dividends paid in our 401k plan	(2,135)		(1,854)		(1,764)
Net tax benefit from stock-based compensation	(894)		(4,602)		(7,877)
Non-deductible FDIC premiums	5,263		3,277		2,629
Non-deductible compensation	2,591		2,250		1,773
Non-deductible meals and entertainment	1,692		683		625
Tax basis adjustment of premises and equipment	—		—		(1,026)
Other	1,399		71		36
Income tax expense, as reported	$	114,400	$	89,677	$	46,459

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.

Year-end deferred taxes are presented in the table below. Deferred taxes are based on the U.S. statutory federal income tax rate of 21%.

	2023		2022
Deferred tax assets:
Net unrealized loss on securities available for sale and transferred securities	$	291,023	$	349,237
Lease liabilities under operating leases	66,442		67,608
Allowance for credit losses	62,592		60,137
Bonus accrual	9,680		11,204
FDIC deposit insurance special assessment	9,468		—
Stock-based compensation	7,712		6,622
Net actuarial loss on defined benefit post-retirement benefit plans	6,493		9,172
Deferred loan and lease origination fees	4,129		3,675
Other	5,892		6,109
Total gross deferred tax assets	463,431		513,764
Deferred tax liabilities:
Right-of-use assets under operating leases	(58,905)		(60,651)
Premises and equipment	(42,640)		(45,647)
Intangible assets	(18,106)		(17,732)
Defined benefit post-retirement benefit plans	(13,073)		(12,730)
Other	(2,368)		(2,601)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities	(135,092)		(139,361)
Net deferred tax asset (liability)	$	328,339	$	374,403

No valuation allowance for deferred tax assets was recorded at December 31, 2023 and 2022 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. There were no unrecognized tax benefits during any of 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 2020.