Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

(12) INCOME TAXES

The components of the Company’s income tax expense (benefit) are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
	(Dollars in thousands)
Current taxes:
Federal	$	26,247	$	23,700	$	39,569
State		7,288		7,083		5,914
Deferred taxes		1,148		3,155		4,383
Total income taxes	$	34,683	$	33,938	$	49,866

Income tax expense applicable to securities transactions approximated $171,000, $10,000 and $1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Income tax expense for 2017 was impacted by the write-down of net deferred tax asset of $4.3 million resulting from the federal tax rate change under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted December 22, 2017. A reconciliation of tax expense at the federal statutory tax rate applied to income before taxes is presented in the following table. The federal statutory tax rate was 21% in 2019 and 2018 and 35% in 2017:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019			2018			2017
	(Dollars in thousands)
Tax expense at the federal statutory tax rate	$	35,377		$	33,546		$	47,708
Increase (decrease) in tax expense from:
Tax-exempt income, net		(581	)		(510	)		(829	)
Modified endowment life contracts		(519	)		(558	)		(921	)
Share based compensation excess tax benefit		(765	)		(917	)		(2,354	)
State tax expense, net of federal tax benefit		5,757			5,595			3,840
Write-down of net deferred tax asset		—			—			4,331
Utilization of tax credits:
New markets tax credits, net of tax expense		(3,547	)		(1,422	)		(1,151	)
Low-income housing tax credits, net of amortization		(1,266	)		(1,273	)		(1,589	)
Other, net		227			(523	)		831
Total tax expense	$	34,683		$	33,938		$	49,866

The net deferred tax asset consisted of the following and is reported in other assets:

	December 31,
	2019			2018
	(Dollars in thousands)
Provision for loan losses	$	13,763		$	13,089
Unrealized net losses on securities		—			731
Write-downs of other real estate owned		181			462
Deferred compensation		2,268			2,209
Stock-based compensation		1,514			1,448
Investments in partnership interests		3,677			4,274
Other		903			963
Gross deferred tax assets		22,306			23,176
Unrealized net gains on securities		(1,187	)		—
Premium on securities of banks acquired		(153	)		(185	)
Intangibles		(6,757	)		(5,376	)
Basis difference related to tax credits		(2,015	)		(2,560	)
Depreciation		(10,349	)		(8,484	)
Prepaid expense deducted		(1,000	)		(1,178	)
Other		(180	)		(181	)
Gross deferred tax liabilities		(21,641	)		(17,964	)
Net deferred tax asset	$	665		$	5,212

The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits, if applicable, in income tax expense. During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company did not recognize or accrue any interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits. Federal and various state income tax statutes dictate that tax returns filed in any of the previous three reporting periods remain open to examination, which includes tax return years 2016 to 2018. In addition, years 2013 to 2015 remain open due to amending those returns in 2017. The Company has no open examinations with either the Internal Revenue Service or any state agency.

Management performs an analysis of the Company’s tax position annually and believes it is more likely than not that all of its tax positions will be utilized in future years.