企業避稅、租稅不確定性與現金股利政策

Corporate Tax Avoidance, Tax Uncertainty and Cash Dividend Policy

公司的股利及租稅政策一向是投資者關注的焦點。本文主要探討企業避稅及租稅不確定性對公司現金股利政策之影響。本研究以台灣上市及上櫃公司為研究對象，研究期間為2014至2017年。實證結果發現，企業避稅和現金股利發放水準呈現正向關聯性，表示現金股利發放對減輕企業避稅所產生之代理問題是一重要機制。另外，租稅不確定性與現金股利發放水準呈現負向關聯性，此結果與預防性動機的意涵相符。

Investors always care about the dividend policy and tax strategy of companies. In this study, we investigate the effects of tax avoidance and tax uncertainty on the level of cash dividend payouts. Employing Taiwan’s listed and OTC traded companies from 2014 to 2017 as the research samples, the empirical results indicate that tax avoidance positively affects cash dividend payouts. The result suggests that dividends are crucial for shareholders to mitigate agency conflicts. We also find that tax uncertainty decreases the level of cash dividend payouts. This finding is consistent with the precautionary motive perspective.