Note 10 - Income Taxes

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

10. Income Taxes

Income tax expense totaled $50.9 million, or an effective tax rate of 36.3%, for the first nine months of 2012, compared to an income tax expense of $36.8 million, or an effective tax rate of 33.7%, 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 for both years.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had income tax receivables of approximately $39.3 million, of which $11.2 million relates to the carryback of the Company’s net operating loss for 2009 to the 2007 tax year and $9.1 million relates to the carryback of the Company’s low income housing tax credits for 2009 to the 2008 tax year.  The refunds from the carryback of the Company’s net operating loss for 2009 were issued in January 2012.  These income tax receivables are included in other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company’s tax returns are open for audits by the Internal Revenue Service back to 2010 and by the California Franchise Tax Board back to 2003.  The Company is under audit by the CaliforniaFranchise Tax Board for the years 2003 to 2007.  As the Company is presently under audit by a number of tax authorities, it is reasonably possible that unrecognized tax benefits could change significantly over the next twelve months. The Company does not expect that any such changes would have a material impact on its annual effective tax rate.