Walker & Dunlop, Inc. Income Taxes Disclosure
NOTE 14—INCOME TAXES
Income Tax Expense
The Company calculates its provision for federal, state, and international income taxes based on current tax law. The reported tax provision differs from the amounts currently receivable or payable because some income and expense items are recognized in different time periods for financial reporting purposes than for income tax purposes. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 as of December 31, 2025. The adoption of the ASU did not have a material impact on the Company’s disclosures. As permitted by the ASU, the Company prospectively
adopted the disclosure requirements since the additional disclosures in prior years would not provide material new information or trends to users of the financial statements.
The following is a summary of income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023:
For the year ended December 31, | |||||||||
Components of Income Tax Expense (in thousands) | | 2025 | | 2024 | | 2023 | |||
Current | |||||||||
Federal | $ | 20,734 | $ | 29,389 | $ | 25,712 | |||
State | 7,034 | 5,673 | 8,401 | ||||||
International | 74 | (2,019) | (285) | ||||||
Total current expense | $ | 27,842 | $ | 33,043 | $ | 33,828 | |||
Deferred | |||||||||
Federal | $ | (2,611) | $ | (1,713) | $ | 1,250 | |||
State | (1,271) | (125) | (434) | ||||||
International | (1,947) | (662) | 382 | ||||||
Total deferred expense (benefit) | $ | (5,829) | $ | (2,500) | $ | 1,198 | |||
Total income tax expense | $ | 22,013 | $ | 30,543 | $ | 35,026 | |||
The following table presents a reconciliation of the statutory federal tax expense to the income tax expense in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income:
For the year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
(in thousands) | | 2025 | | 2024 | | 2023 | ||||||
Statutory federal expense | $ | 16,590 | 21.0 | % | $ | 27,615 | $ | 29,021 | ||||
3,246 | 4.1 | 4,216 | 6,465 | |||||||||
Excess tax shortfalls (benefits), net of federal tax impact | 1,414 | 1.8 | (1,674) | (2,972) | ||||||||
Nondeductible expenses | 1,707 | 2.2 | 3,381 | 3,064 | ||||||||
Non-U.S. earnings (loss) | (1,480) | (1.9) | (2,117) | 224 | ||||||||
Other | 536 | 0.7 | (878) | (776) | ||||||||
Income tax expense | $ | 22,013 | 27.9 | % | $ | 30,543 | $ | 35,026 | ||||
| (1) | In 2025, state and local income taxes in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee comprise the majority of the statutory state income tax expense, net of federal effect category. |
Under the provisions of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (“162(m)”), the deductibility of executive compensation is limited to $1 million per year for each named executive officer (“NEO”). Based on the information available as of December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company believed that it is more likely than not a significant portion of NEO stock-based and other deferred compensation book expense will exceed the $1 million limitation in future years when the shares vest, resulting in no tax deductibility for the book expense associated with these compensation agreements and no deferred tax assets. Additionally, for each of the years presented above, portions of NEO compensation other than stock and other deferred compensation were above the $1 million limitation, resulting in no tax deductibility for amounts above the $1 million limitation. The majority of the nondeductible expenses shown in the table above relate to these two impacts from 162(m).
Deferred Tax Assets/Liabilities
The tax effects of temporary differences between reported earnings and taxable earnings consisted of the following:
As of December 31, | |||||||
Components of Deferred Tax Liabilities, Net (in thousands) | | 2025 | | 2024 |
| ||
Deferred Tax Assets | |||||||
Compensation related | $ | 7,866 | $ | 5,978 | |||
Credit losses |
| 17,654 |
| 10,202 | |||
Other | 12,321 | 6,484 | |||||
Total deferred tax assets | $ | 37,841 | $ | 22,664 | |||
Deferred Tax Liabilities | |||||||
Mark-to-market of derivatives and loans held for sale | $ | (8,418) | $ | (6,247) | |||
Mortgage servicing rights related | (189,018) | (196,678) | |||||
Acquisition related (1) | (67,969) | (52,936) | |||||
Depreciation | (9,437) | (8,189) | |||||
Total deferred tax liabilities | $ | (274,842) | $ | (264,050) | |||
Deferred tax liabilities, net | $ | (237,001) | $ | (241,386) | |||
| (1) | Acquisition-related deferred tax liabilities consist of book-to-tax differences associated with basis step ups related to the amortization of goodwill recorded from acquisitions and book-to-tax differences in intangible asset amortization. |
The Company believes it is more likely than not that it will generate sufficient taxable income in future periods to realize the deferred tax assets. During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company recognized an insignificant amount of deferred tax assets or liabilities that are not included as a component of deferred tax expense. A significant portion of these differences relates to AFS securities. The Company is required to treat unrealized gains and losses on AFS securities as currently taxable income, impacting its deferred expense but not the deferred tax assets or liabilities. The Company’s pretax income (loss) from foreign operations was insignificant for all the periods presented.
Income Taxes Paid
As presented in our Statement of Cash Flows, the Company paid income taxes, net of cash refunds received of $22.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. For the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company made tax payments, net of cash refunds received of $16.5 million for its federal tax obligations, $6.1 million for its state and local obligations, and an insignificant amount for its foreign obligations. The Company made net tax payments of $1.9 million to the state of California during the year ended December 31, 2025. No other state was above 5% of worldwide net tax payments during the year ended December 31, 2025.
Tax Uncertainties
The Company periodically assesses its liabilities and contingencies for all periods open to examination by tax authorities based on the latest available information. Where the Company believes it is more likely than not that a tax position will not be sustained, management records its best estimate of the resulting tax liability, including interest and penalties, in the consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2025, based on all known facts and circumstances and current tax law, management believes that there are no material tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the unrecognized tax benefits will significantly increase or decrease over the next 12 months, producing, individually or in the aggregate, a material effect on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
Pillar Two
A framework known as Pillar Two became effective for some countries in 2024. Pillar Two is designed to ensure large multinational enterprises pay a minimum level of tax on the income arising in each jurisdiction where they operate. Pillar Two has not had an impact on the Company’s tax liabilities as the Company’s corporate income tax rate in each of the jurisdictions it operates in is higher than the minimum thresholds established by Pillar Two.
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Feb 26, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Feb 25, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 22, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Feb 23, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Feb 24, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Feb 25, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Feb 26, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Mar 1, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 23, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 24, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 26, 2016 | |
About Income Taxes Disclosures
The income tax disclosure reveals how much a company actually pays in taxes versus what the statutory rate would predict. Analysts focus on the effective tax rate (ETR) reconciliation, which breaks down every item driving the gap between the 21% federal rate and the company's reported ETR — including R&D credits, foreign rate differentials, and state taxes. Deferred tax assets (DTAs) and their valuation allowances signal management's confidence in future profitability: a rising allowance suggests the company doubts it can use accumulated tax benefits. Uncertain tax benefit (UTB) reserves quantify exposure to IRS challenges on aggressive positions.
Key signals to watch: sudden ETR drops without clear operational reasons, large increases in valuation allowances, growing UTB balances, and significant unremitted foreign earnings. Post-TCJA, pay attention to GILTI and BEAT provisions that affect multinational tax structures. Compare the cash taxes paid (from the cash flow statement) against the income tax provision to gauge earnings quality.