Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

13. Income Taxes

Income tax expense totaled $22.6 million, or an effective tax rate of 32.8% for the first six months of 2011, compared to an income tax benefit of $28.4 million, or an effective tax benefit rate of 54.4%, for the same period a year ago. The effective tax rate includes the impact of the utilization of low income housing tax credits and recognition of other tax credits during the second quarter of 2011. The effective tax rate for the remainder of 2011 is expected to be 34.1% based on the forecasted net income for the full year.

As of December 31, 2010, the Company had income tax receivables of approximately $23.5 million, of which $10.6 million relates to the carryback of the Company's net operating loss for 2009 to the 2007 tax year and $10.3 million relates to the carryback of the Company's low income housing tax credits for 2009 to the 2008 tax year. These income tax receivables are included in other assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The Company's tax returns are open for audits by the Franchise Tax Board of the State of California back to 2003. The Internal Revenue Service completed its audit of the Company's 2007 to 2009 tax years in June 2011 without any significant impact to the current period income tax expense. The California Franchise Tax Board has begun an audit of the Company's California tax returns for the years 2003 and 2004. The Company does not expect that any such changes would have a material impact on its annual effective tax rate.