會計可比性與相對租稅規避：考量資訊環境及企業策略之角色

Accounting Comparability and Relative Tax Avoidance: The Roles of Information Environment and Business Strategy

資訊來源如何影響到公司相對租稅規避行為是一重要但較少研究探討的議題。鑒於台灣資訊環境較為晦暗，本研究旨在檢測不同資訊來源對公司相對租稅規避行為的影響。實證結果顯示，公司會計可比性愈高，愈能縮小與同儕間租稅規避的差異程度，支持會計可比性有助於降低收集及處理同產業公司資訊成本之論點。此外，調節效果分析進一步發現，當公司所處的產業資訊環境較為豐富或公司與同儕採取類似企業策略時，會計可比性對公司相對租稅規避行為的影響效果愈強，但當公司董事會有連鎖董事時，會計可比性效果會被削弱。整體而言，本文研究結果指出會計可比性確實會影響經理人擬訂相對租稅規避決策，且影響的程度端視公司本身資訊環境的品質或是否與同儕採取類似策略而定。

How do information sources affect corporate tax avoidance behavior relative to industry peers? In this study, we examine this important issue using the emerging market setting of Taiwan, where poor information disclosures and abusive related party transactions negatively affect the information environment. We have found that a firm’s tax avoidance rank among peers is significantly influenced by accounting comparability, which is consistent with the notion that accounting comparability can help to reduce the costs of information acquisition and the processing of peer firms. The comparability effect is stronger when firms have a richer peer information environment, but not when firms share directors with other firms. Further analyses indicate that the comparability effect is more pronounced for firms sharing common directors with strategically similar firms. Overall, these results are in line with the view that accounting comparability matters to managers in the assessment of peers’tax arrangements, but only to the extent that there is a lack of private information sharing or a strategic similarity between the focal firm and its interlocking firms.