Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

Income tax expense was as follows:

	2024			2023			2022
Current income tax expense	$	125,025		$	129,229		$	94,595
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)	(11,600)			(14,829)			(4,918)
Income tax expense, as reported	$	113,425		$	114,400		$	89,677
Effective tax rate	16.3		%	16.1		%	13.4		%

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.

	2024		2023		2022
Income tax expense computed at the statutory rate	$	146,153	$	149,598	$	140,454
Effect of tax-exempt interest	(38,498)		(43,114)		(50,602)
Net tax benefit from stock-based compensation	(3,795)		(894)		(4,602)
Tax benefit on dividends paid in our 401k plan	(2,281)		(2,135)		(1,854)
Non-deductible FDIC premiums	5,943		5,263		3,277
Non-deductible meals and entertainment	1,861		1,692		683
Non-deductible compensation	1,629		2,591		2,250
Other	2,413		1,399		71
Income tax expense, as reported	$	113,425	$	114,400	$	89,677

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%.

	2024		2023
Deferred tax assets:
Net unrealized loss on securities available for sale and transferred securities	$	327,184	$	291,023
Allowance for credit losses	67,697		62,592
Lease liabilities under operating leases	64,691		66,442
Bonus accrual	13,753		9,680
FDIC deposit insurance special assessment	8,647		9,468
Stock-based compensation	6,321		7,712
Net actuarial loss on defined benefit post-retirement benefit plans	5,630		6,493
Deferred loan and lease origination fees	3,990		4,129
Other	6,496		5,892
Total gross deferred tax assets	504,409		463,431
Deferred tax liabilities:
Right-of-use assets under operating leases	(56,759)		(58,905)
Premises and equipment	(38,352)		(42,640)
Intangible assets	(18,048)		(18,106)
Defined benefit post-retirement benefit plans	(13,591)		(13,073)
Other	(2,422)		(2,368)
Total gross deferred tax liabilities	(129,172)		(135,092)
Net deferred tax asset (liability)	$	375,237	$	328,339

No valuation allowance for deferred tax assets was recorded at December 31, 2024 and 2023 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 2021.