Identifying Different Types of Tax Avoidance: Implications for Empirical Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 0000-0000
Author(s):  
David A. Guenther ◽  
Linda K. Krull ◽  
Brian M Williams
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Tax Payments

We provide a theoretical framework to identify when measures of tax avoidance reflect tax avoidance related to, and unrelated to, earnings management. The influence of earnings management on measures of tax avoidance occurs because pretax financial accounting income is used as a benchmark against which tax payments are measured. A firm that manages earnings upwards without paying additional tax on the managed earnings can be considered to have avoided tax. We demonstrate that a measure of tax avoidance that has been used in prior research-the ratio of cash taxes paid to pretax operating cash flows-captures tax avoidance that is unrelated to earnings management. Use of this alternate measure in empirical studies can avoid attributing earnings management results to tax avoidance.

Instructional Case: General Host: Accounting for a Bond Refunding

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Mohrman
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Business Press ◽  
Paper Money ◽  
Book Values ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Interest Expense

This assignment, which involves accounting for a simple bond refunding, achieves several objectives. First, it reinforces basic concepts in bond accounting, such as cash flows, book values, interest expense and gains/losses from early extinguishment. Second, it leads students to critically analyze an article from the popular business press. Third, it illustrates many important issues in financial accounting, such as earnings management, the relationship between earnings and stock prices, and economic consequences. Students are asked to read “Paper Money” from Forbes' “Numbers Game” column. The article describes General Host's bond exchange offer and questions the recognition of a gain in such circumstances. The case assignment requires students to carefully analyze the bond exchange and to question many of the authors' assumptions about the economic impacts of the exchange offer. I have used this case successfully in undergraduate intermediate accounting classes and in an introductory financial accounting course for M.B.A. students.

Earnings smoothing around open-market share repurchases

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Hui Di ◽  
Dalia Marciukaityte
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Share Repurchases ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Earnings Smoothing ◽  
Open Market Share Repurchases

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms engage in earnings decreasing management before share repurchases to mislead investors or to smooth earnings and improve earnings informativeness. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine discretionary accruals and cash flows around open-market share repurchases. The primary discretionary accruals measure is industry- and performance-adjusted discretionary current accruals estimated from cash-flow data. Findings – Results show that, firms experience temporary increases in operating cash flows and use negative discretionary accruals to smooth earnings before share repurchases. Firms with the highest pre-repurchase cash flows use the lowest pre-repurchase discretionary accruals. Moreover, pre-repurchase discretionary accruals reflect expectations about future operating cash flows. Firms with the strongest deterioration in operating cash flows after repurchases use the lowest pre-repurchase discretionary accruals. These findings suggest that repurchasing firms use earnings management to increase smoothness and predictability of reported earnings rather than to mislead investors. Originality/value – This paper provides an alternative explanation to the finding of negative discretionary accruals before share repurchases. It adds to the literature on repurchases and earnings smoothing by showing that firms use earnings management around share repurchases to smooth earnings.

A review of the influence of political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-705
Author(s):  
Ines Amara ◽  
Hichem Khlif
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Political Connections ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Given the interest in better understanding the economic effects of political connections, this paper aims to review empirical studies in the accounting and finance domain investigating the effects of firms’ political connections on management’s decision in non-US settings. Design/methodology/approach Key words used to search for relevant studies include “political connections” linked with “tax avoidance,” “earnings quality” “voluntary disclosure.” The authors consult several editorial sources including Elsevier, Electronic Journals Service EBSCO, Emerald, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, Sage, Taylor & Francis and Wiley-Blackwell. The authors’ search yields 46 published studies since 2006. Findings The review reveals a prevalence of studies conducted in Asia. A narrative synthesis of empirical findings shows mixed effects of political connections on earnings management, as measured by accrual-based or real earnings management practices. Mixed evidence also exists for the association between political connections and reporting policy (e.g. corporate social responsibility reporting). The review also reveals that firms with political ties adopt an aggressive tax policy aimed at reducing effective tax rates and are more likely to choose a Big 4 auditor. Originality/value The review discusses the political connections literature focusing on studies outside of the USA and the effect of such connections on decision-making by management. It identifies some limitations of this literature and offers guidance for future research avenues. The synthesis suggests that political connections can adversely or beneficially impact management’s decisions depending on the legal, institutional and cultural characteristics prevailing in a particular setting.

Do Investors Perceive Low Risk When Earnings are Smooth Relative to the Volatility of Operating Cash Flows? Discerning Opportunity and Incentive to Report Smooth Earnings

2016 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 137-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon Erickson ◽  
Max Hewitt ◽  
Laureen A. Maines
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Risk Judgments

ABSTRACT A fundamental accounting question is whether investors perceive low risk when earnings are smooth relative to the volatility of operating cash flows. We conduct two experiments to examine this question. Absent additional information concerning the likelihood of earnings management, our first experiment finds that investors give managers the benefit of the doubt and perceive low risk when earnings are relatively smooth. Given this finding, our second experiment examines whether additional information that supports investors' suspicions of earnings management affects investors' risk judgments when earnings are relatively smooth. We find that investors no longer give managers the benefit of the doubt when additional information suggests that managers have either the opportunity or the incentive to report smooth earnings. Our study provides important insights to the literature concerning both “whether” and “when” relatively smooth earnings affect investors' risk judgments. Data Availability: Contact the authors.

scholarly journals The Effect of Tax Risk on Tax Avoidance

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-584
Author(s):  
Yenni Mangoting ◽  
Oviliani Yenty Yuliana ◽  
Jesslyn Effendy ◽  
Lovena Hariono ◽  
Viennie Melinda Lians
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Effective Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Reputational Risk ◽  
Managerial Risk ◽  
Tax Payments

This research intends to investigate whether tax risk is associated with tax avoidance, which is proxied by Cash Effective Tax Rate (CETR). Tax risk is measured by six tax risk components: transactional risk, compliance risk, operational risk, financial accounting risk, managerial risk, and reputational risk. The samples in this research are manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). With a purposive sampling method, there are 168 firm years which we analyzed with OLS regression. The result in this study showed that tax risk is positively associated with CETR. It implied that choices of tax strategies and activities are involved in high tax risk, but firms still choose to comply with tax regulations, which can be seen in high CETR values. This research found that firms need tax risk management to ensure that tax strategies do not impact the firms’ future losses from additional tax payments and fines. Other than that, this research gives a new option for future researchers to measure tax risk using scoring methods and indicators that are engaged in each of the tax risk components.DOI: 10.26905/jkdp.v25i3.5629

scholarly journals The Effect of Leverage, Size, Liquidity, Operating Cash Flow on Fixed Asset Revaluation

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Dian Firmansyah ◽  
Nurmala Ahmar ◽  
JMV Mulyadi
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Fixed Asset ◽  
Operating Cash Flows ◽  
Fixed Assets ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
Tax Payments

This study tries to prove empirically the effect of leverage, size, liquidity and operating cash flows on the revaluation of fixed assets. It used a sample of all non-financial companies, which revalued assets in the periode of 2012-2015, at companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange with upward revaluation category. The analysis was done using Path analysis (PLS) without requiring classical assumption and normality test. The results show that leverage affects Asset revaluation, it proves that high leverage because the company to do revaluation of fixed assets, large companies tend to want to display earnings reports that are not too large to reduce their political costs, with asset revaluation, the value of depreciation is calculated Repeated and reduce the company's profit. Operating cash flows affect the revaluation of fixed assets on the grounds that the company requires funds to pay its obligations as well as in revaluation assets cost a great deal for the appraisal services, audit fees and final tax payments. Yet, liquidity has no effect on the revaluation of fixed assets, Within the last 4 years, the study found that users of the Asset revaluation model reporting in Other Comprehensive Income continue to grow and are expected to become financial statements that have superiority and good quality by reporting fair value. In the next research to add the number of variables on Asset revaluation, as well as expand the sample by involving the company revaluation and non revaluation. In addition, to examine the development of asset revaluation, especially in ASEAN countries related to the adoption of IFRS in the case of fixed asset revaluation.Keyword: Leverage, Size, Liquidity, Cash Flow from operation, and Revaluations Assets.

Tax avoidance as earning game player in emerging economies: evidence from Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jahanzeb Marwat ◽  
Suresh Kumar Oad Rajput ◽  
Sarfraz Ahmed Dakhan ◽  
Sonia Kumari ◽  
Muhammad Ilyas
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe current study aims to achieve two targets. First, examine empirically that whether corporate managers use tax avoidance to influence short-term profitability? Second, investigate the impact of tax avoidance on the value of firms. The tax accounts provide the opportunity to influence temporary/permanent profitability but empirical studies overlooking this matter, particularly in emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors identified unexpected fluctuations of tax avoidance and then examine whether it impacts the profitability signal and firms' value? The unbalanced panel data of 189 non-financial firms for the period 2000–2018 are used for empirical analysis. The estimation biases and results consistency are verified by using two different econometric models including generalized least square and two-stage least squareFindingsThe study identifies that managers manipulate the profitability signal through tax avoidance. Tax avoidance practices help in earning management and earning smoothing to avoid negative signals in the stock market. In line with the behavioral finance view, tax avoidance has a positive impact on current stock returns because investors focus on profitability without a detailed screening of cash flows.Originality/valueA limited number of studies investigate the use of tax avoidance for manipulation of the short-term earning signal. Identifying gaps and limitations in the literature, this study provides invaluable insights into tax avoidance and its association with the profitability and value of firms. The findings are important for investors, managers and policymakers in making portfolio decisions and corporate policies.

Empirical research on the correlation between Real Earnings Management of state-owned enterprises and executive compensation — from the perspective of executive structural power

2019 ◽  
Vol 06 (01) ◽  
pp. 1950008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Yu ◽  
Yuxuan Dai ◽  
Keguang Zheng ◽  
Yongjie Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Executive Compensation ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
Real Activity ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This paper focuses on the impact of the executive compensation of state-owned enterprises and executive power on Real Activity Earnings Management (REM). Furthermore, this paper discusses the differences of impacts mentioned above between the central government holding enterprises and the local government holding enterprises, in order to test the impact of the government compensation regulation and the executive compensation of different types of enterprises on the enterprise accounting behavior. The empirical research shows that executive compensation can induce accountings to implement REM, which is more notable in local state-owned enterprises than in central enterprises.

scholarly journals CSR and tax avoidance: A review of empirical research

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-39
Author(s):  
Jost Kovermann ◽  
Patrick Velte
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Bidirectional Relationship ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Stable Association ◽  
Tax Payments ◽  
Corporate Social

This article is a literature review that covers quantitative empirical research on the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate tax avoidance. We conduct a structured literature review and evaluate the empirical-quantitative results with regard to the CSR–tax avoidance link and vice versa. The association between CSR and tax avoidance is both theoretically and empirically ambiguous. However, the majority of studies finds a negative association between CSR and tax avoidance. Nevertheless, results are highly dependent on measurement of the respective constructs and other marginal conditions. Comparability of recent research on the issue is in particular limited due to heterogeneous CSR and tax avoidance metrics and due to a potentially bidirectional relationship. Results imply that there is not necessarily a stable association between CSR performance, as measured by CSR scores or ratings, CSR reporting, and a firm’s tax practices. Thus, socially responsible investors have to make a decision about whether they are prepared to invest in firms that have high CSR scores and strong CSR performance while aggressively avoiding taxes. Investors who perceive tax payments as part of a firm’s responsibility towards society, have to select their investments with great care, as CSR scores and CSR reporting are of only limited informative value with regard to tax avoidance

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