Note 13. Federal and State Income Taxes

Federal and state income tax expense was comprised of the following components for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016:


	2018		2017		2016
Current	$	2,722,635	$	10,976,005	$	11,969,194
Deferred		6,292,477		(6,029,555)		(3,066,407)
	$	9,015,112	$	4,946,450	$	8,902,787

A reconciliation of the expected federal income tax expense to the income tax expense included in the consolidated statements of income was as follows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2018				2017				2016
			% of				% of				% of
			Pretax				Pretax				Pretax
	Amount		Income		Amount		Income		Amount		Income
Computed "expected" tax expense	$	10,948,310	21.0	%	$	14,228,535	35.0	%	$	12,806,351	35.0	%
Effect of graduated tax rates		—	—			—	—			(250,013)	(0.7)
Tax exempt income, net		(3,957,851)	(7.6)			(5,653,979)	(13.9)			(4,343,270)	(11.9)
Bank-owned life insurance		(342,667)	(0.6)			(630,855)	(1.5)			(619,988)	(1.7)
State income taxes, net of federal benefit, current year		2,680,581	5.2			1,764,671	4.3			1,245,524	3.4
Change in unrecognized tax benefits		(44,629)	(0.1)			(53,699)	(0.1)			121,008	0.3
New Markets Tax Credits and other credits		(154,200)	(0.3)			(341,268)	(0.8)			(180,000)	(0.5)
Acquisition costs		226,599	0.4			—	—			176,050	0.5
Excess tax benefit on stock options exercised and restricted stock awards vested		(425,142)	(0.8)			(1,219,483)	(3.0)			—	—
Re-measurement of deferred tax asset to incorporate newly enacted tax rates		—	—			(2,918,606)	(7.2)			—	—
Other		84,111	0.1			(228,866)	(0.6)			(52,875)	(0.1)
Federal and state income tax expense	$	9,015,112	17.3	%	$	4,946,450	12.2	%	$	8,902,787	24.3	%

Changes in the unrecognized tax benefits included in other liabilities are as follows for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:


	2018		2017
Balance, beginning	$	1,293,268	$	1,346,967
Impact of tax positions taken during current year		286,994		333,253
Gross decrease related to tax positions of prior years		(178,058)		(40,584)
Reduction as a result of a lapse of the applicable statute of limitations		(153,565)		(346,368)
Balance, ending	$	1,248,639	$	1,293,268

Included in the unrecognized tax benefits liability at December 31, 2018 are potential benefits of approximately $1.0 million that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate.

The liability for unrecognized tax benefits includes accrued interest for tax positions, which either do not meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold or where the tax benefit is measured at an amount less than the tax benefit claimed or expected to be claimed on an income tax return. At December 31, 2018 and 2017, accrued interest on uncertain tax positions was approximately $205 thousand and $150 thousand, respectively. Estimated interest related to the underpayment of income taxes is classified as a component of “income tax expense” in the statements of income.

The Company’s federal income tax returns are open and subject to examination from the 2015 tax return year and later. Various state franchise and income tax returns are generally open from the 2014 and later tax return years based on individual state statutes of limitations.

Note 13. Federal and State Income Taxes (continued)

The net deferred tax assets consisted of the following as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:


	2018		2017
Deferred tax assets:
Alternative minimum tax credits	$	2,911,031	$	6,513,502
Historic tax credits		1,937,170		—
New markets tax credits		—		2,164,727
Net unrealized losses on securities available for sale and derivative instruments		1,687,162		498,860
Compensation		6,771,593		6,282,603
Loan/lease losses		9,548,985		8,029,714
Net operating loss carryforwards, federal and state		849,335		959,627
Other		52,738		34,962
		23,758,014		24,483,995
Deferred tax liabilities:
Premises and equipment		2,716,592		2,400,397
Equipment financing leases		18,329,372		15,367,705
Acquisition fair value adjustments		2,739,038		1,864,599
Investment accretion		30,533		30,656
Deferred loan origination fees, net		482,380		115,153
Other		424,335		430,125
		24,722,250		20,208,635
Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)	$	(964,236)	$	4,275,360

At December 31, 2018, the Company had $4.0 million of federal tax net operating loss carryforwards which are set to expire in varying amounts between 2029 and 2033. At December 31, 2018, the Company had $2.1 million of state tax net operating loss carryforwards which are set to expire in varying amounts between 2023 and 2028. All of the federal tax net operating loss carryforwards and the state tax net operating loss carryforwards were acquired from Community National and CNB.

The change in deferred income taxes was reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements as follows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016:


	2018		2017		2016
Provision for income taxes	$	6,292,477	$	(6,029,555)	$	(3,066,407)
Net deferred tax asset acquired		—		—		(3,310,553)
Net deferred tax asset resulting from acquisition adjustments		(52,717)		243,195		5,110,015
Re-measurement of deferred tax asset to incorporate newly enacted tax rates		—		2,918,606		—
Statement of stockholders' equity- Other comprehensive income (loss)		(1,000,164)		668,085		(202,691)
	$	5,239,596	$	(2,199,669)	$	(1,469,636)

The Tax Act was enacted on December 22, 2017 and reduces the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. As a result, the Company revalued the deferred tax assets and liabilities to reflect the lower federal corporate tax rate, which resulted in the Company recognizing a benefit of $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. Additionally, while the Tax Act eliminated the corporate alternative minimum tax, it did preserve the alternative minimum tax credit and the usability.