Note 10 - Income Taxes

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Income Tax Disclosure [Text Block]

1

0.

Income Taxes

I

ncome tax expense totaled

$35.9

 million, or an effective tax rate of

26.4%,

for the

six

months ended

June 30, 2017,

compared to an income tax expense of

$34.9

million, or an effective tax rate of

30.1%,

for the same period in

2016.

The effective tax rate includes the impact of the utilization of low income housing tax credits and the utilization of alternative energy tax credits. Also, ASU

2016

-

09

resulted in a

$2.5

million tax benefit from the distribution of restricted stock units in the

first

six

months ended

June 30, 2017.

As of

June 30, 2017

and

December 31, 2016,

the Company had income tax refunds receivable of

$19.4

million and

$14.6

million, respectively. These income tax receivables are included in other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Company

’s tax returns are open for audit by the Internal Revenue Service back to

2013

and by the California Franchise Tax Board back to

2012.

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.