非營利醫院的避稅動機與盈餘管理

Tax-Motivated Earnings Manipulation by Nonprofit Hospitals

本研究以2006-2008年國內醫療財團法人為樣本，人工收集經會計師查核簽證的財務報表資料，以有效稅率作為租稅負擔的衡量指標，分析非營利醫院整體租稅負擔程度，並探討他們規避稅負的動機與盈餘管理的關聯。雖然1995年以後的稅法規定，合於條件的非營利組織其商業活動所得納入課稅而非商業收入則維持免稅，但檢視研究期間非營利醫院有效稅率的分配狀況發現有向0集中的趨勢，大部分非營利醫院的實際租稅負擔無異於免稅。此外，以羅吉斯迴歸模型檢定的結果發現非營利醫院會利用特殊裁決應計費用安排應稅與免稅活動的所得以降低稅負，本研究的結果提供了商業型非營利組織的正常營業項目發生虧損有部分是來自於租稅誘因盈餘管理行為的證據。 Since 1995, the government has determined that nonprofits' tax-exemption should not apply to commercial activities to prevent unfair competition between nonprofits and for-profit entities in Taiwan. Qualified nonprofit organizations are generally exempt from income taxation but income from goods sold and services provided. This study manually collected financial data related to foundation hospitals in Taiwan over the period from 2006 to 2008 and found that, according to the distribution of effective tax rates, the tax burden of nonprofit hospitals is generally near zero. Further, our Logit regression model analysis determined that according to discretionary accruals of the specific expenses for nonprofit hospitals, hospitals that reported net income with operating losses have tax-induced motivation to pursue earnings management. The results provide initial evidence about the effect of tax incentives on nonprofit reporting behavior.