v3.26.1
Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
Effective March 31, 2026, the Company adopted Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, retrospective to April 1, 2023. The amendments in this ASU address investor requests for more transparency about income tax information through improvements to income tax disclosures, primarily related to an entity’s effective tax rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information.

The Company is subject to U.S. income tax, as well as various other state and local jurisdictions. With the exception of a few states, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or non-U.S. income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before 2021, although carryforward attributes that were generated prior to 2021 may still be adjusted upon examination by the taxing authorities if they either have been or will be used in a future period.

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) was enacted. The OBBBA includes provisions such as the permanent extension of certain expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, modifications to the international tax framework, and the restoration of favorable tax treatment for certain business provisions. There are no material tax implications as a result of the OBBBA and it does not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Income tax expense (benefit) for the years indicated below consists of:
 CurrentDeferredTotal
Year ended March 31, 2026   
Federal$16,171,106 $(6,527,720)$9,643,386 
State and local1,574,975 (561,870)1,013,105 
 $17,746,081 $(7,089,590)$10,656,491 
Year ended March 31, 2025   
Federal$21,453,743 $(2,861,984)$18,591,759 
State and local3,138,466 342,001 3,480,467 
 $24,592,209 $(2,519,983)$22,072,226 
Year ended March 31, 2024   
Federal$9,592,743 $8,246,248 $17,838,991 
State and local1,732,162 2,387,285 4,119,447 
 $11,324,905 $10,633,533 $21,958,438 
 
The differences between income taxes expected at the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate of 21% and the reported income tax expense for the years ended March 31, 2026, 2025 and 2024 are summarized as follows:

 202620252024
US federal statutory tax rate$9,500,928 21.0 %$23,376,151 21.0 %$20,791,004 21.0 %
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax effect800,353 1.8 %2,748,295 2.5 %3,254,363 3.3 %
Tax credits
Historic tax credits(961,138)(2.1)%(871,938)(0.8)%(427,512)(0.4)%
Energy-related tax credits(612,353)(1.4)%(887,089)(0.8)%(451,800)(0.5)%
Other(44,785)(0.1)%(163,685)(0.1)%(154,779)(0.2)%
Nontaxable or nondeductible items
Forfeiture of the $20.45 Performance Shares and the $16.35 Performance Shares
— — %(2,587,552)(2.3)%— — %
Permanent effect of the bargain purchase of loans— — %— — %(1,090,068)(1.1)%
Excess tax benefits related to equity awards(578,321)(1.3)%(182,098)(0.2)%(347,806)(0.4)%
Other764,062 1.7 %676,757 0.6 %413,831 0.4 %
Changes in unrecognized tax benefits1,619,698 3.6 %17,537 — %16,406 — %
Other adjustments168,047 0.4 %(54,152)— %(45,201)— %
Effective tax rate$10,656,491 23.6 %$22,072,226 19.8 %$21,958,438 22.2 %


As of March 31, 2026 and 2025, investment in HTC was $10.1 million and $15.9 million, respectively, which is included as a component of Other assets, net and Accounts payable and accrued expenses in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company recognized net amortization from these investments of $13.6 million and $17.8 million for the years ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively, in income tax expense. The Company recognized tax benefits from these investments of $15.1 million and $19.6 million during the years ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively, in income tax expense and in Income taxes payable in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The Company did not recognize any non-tax related activity or have any significant modifications to its investments during the current fiscal year.

For fiscal 2026, listed in descending order of financial impact, Illinois and Missouri made up the majority of the state and local tax expense. For fiscal 2025, listed in descending order of financial impact, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky made up the majority of the state and local tax expense. For fiscal 2024, listed in descending order of financial impact, Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois and Oklahoma made up the majority of the state and local tax expense.
The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities at March 31, 2026 and 2025 are presented below:
 20262025
Deferred tax assets:  
Allowance for credit losses$28,043,502 $25,693,205 
Unearned insurance commissions9,144,092 9,407,895 
Accrued expenses primarily related to employee benefits6,555,260 6,181,990 
Reserve for uncollectible interest1,021,502 993,241 
Lease liability18,153,116 19,359,479 
Intangible assets2,107,831 1,965,939 
Deferred revenue1,007,892 860,594 
Tax credit carryforward11,483,737 5,639,649 
Capital loss carryforward38,142 192,767 
State net operating loss carryforwards6,545,857 6,005,260 
Gross deferred tax assets84,100,931 76,300,019 
Less valuation allowance(9,086,610)(8,695,894)
Net deferred tax assets75,014,321 67,604,125 
Deferred tax liabilities:  
Fair value adjustment for loans receivable$(9,840,020)$(7,713,732)
Property and equipment(2,909,283)(3,510,245)
Deferred loan origination costs(1,452,377)(1,366,926)
Prepaid expenses(1,557,466)(1,529,317)
ROU assets(17,546,267)(18,750,736)
Other(467,650)(581,501)
Gross deferred tax liabilities(33,773,063)(33,452,457)
Deferred income taxes, net$41,241,258 $34,151,668 

Income taxes paid (net of refunds) consisted of the following jurisdictions for the years ended March 31, 2026, 2025 and 2024 are presented below:

202620252024
Federal$12,960,932 $13,839,346 $12,453,502 
State and local1,805,494 1,428,672 1,161,822 
Total$14,766,426 $15,268,018 $13,615,324 

At March 31, 2026, the Company had stated net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $111.0 million. A deferred tax asset of approximately $6.5 million was recorded to reflect the benefit of these losses. Of this $6.5 million, $0.8 million is expected to be recognized. The state net operating loss carryforward will expire between 2031 and 2044.
The valuation allowance for deferred tax assets increased by $0.4 million for the year ended March 31, 2026, when compared to March 31, 2025. The valuation allowance at March 31, 2026 and 2025 was $9.1 million and $8.7 million, respectively. The valuation allowance against the total deferred tax assets as of March 31, 2026 consisted of $5.8 million from state net operating loss carryforwards in the amount of $92.0 million, which expire from 2031 to 2044, a foreign tax credit carryforward of $3.3 million arising in relation to the Transition Tax during fiscal 2018, which expires in 2028, and $40.0 thousand related to the $0.2 million capital loss on the sale of the former headquarters buildings, which expires in 2027. The Company does not expect to generate enough foreign source income, state taxable income in the respective jurisdictions or capital gains in future tax years to realize these tax attributes. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. In order to fully realize the deferred tax asset, the Company will need to generate future taxable income of the appropriate character prior to the expiration of the deferred tax assets governed by the tax code.   

For the years ended March 31, 2026, 2025, and 2024, the Company had $0.5 million, $1.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively, of total gross unrecognized tax benefits including interest. Of these totals, approximately $0.4 million, $0.9 million and $0.9 million, respectively, represents the amount of net unrecognized tax benefits that are permanent in nature and, if recognized, would affect the annual effective tax rate.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits at March 31, 2026, 2025, and 2024 are presented below:
202620252024
Unrecognized tax benefit balance beginning of year$740,616 $748,289 $818,225 
Gross increases for tax positions of current year107,233 73,696 105,531 
Gross increases for tax positions of prior years1,003,507 — — 
Settlements with tax authorities(1,339,847)— — 
Lapse of statute of limitations(112,121)(81,369)(175,467)
Unrecognized tax benefit balance end of year$399,388 $740,616 $748,289 
 
The Company’s continuing practice is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. For the years ended March 31, 2026, 2025, and 2024, the Company had $0.1 million, $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively, accrued for gross interest, of which $0.8 million, $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, represented the current period expense for the years ended March 31, 2026, 2025, and 2024.