Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Income Taxes

Note 12 - Income Taxes

Income tax expense was as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,						Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Current income tax expense	$	18,114		$	24,036		$	55,631		$	50,101
Deferred income tax expense (benefit)		(1,043	)		(382	)		(5,020	)		(137	)
Income tax expense, as reported	$	17,071		$	23,654		$	50,611		$	49,964
Effective tax rate		22.5	%		30.3	%		22.2	%		23.6	%

Net deferred tax liabilities totaled $133.2 million at September 30, 2012 and $123.7 million at December 31, 2011. No valuation allowance was recorded against deferred tax assets at September 30, 2012 as management believes that it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will be realized because they were supported by recoverable taxes paid in prior years. 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.

The Corporation files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction. The Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2009.