IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v46y2022ics1061951822000039.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The implications of book-tax conformity and tax change for the earnings management of Portuguese micro firms

Author

Listed:
  • Pais, Cláudio
  • Dias, Cláudia Afecto

Abstract

Since 2014, Portugal has a special, optional tax regime for micro firms called the simplified tax regime, which is an alternative to the general tax regime. In the simplified tax regime, income tax is a percentage of specific revenues, which could be seen as an example of lower book-tax conformity. The general tax regime is an example of higher book-tax conformity because tax income is based on accounting income. Using the tax regimes as a proxy of book-tax conformity we study the influence of the different tax regimes on earnings management, as well as whether earnings management in the general tax regime is used to achieve taxable income and reporting goals. We find that firms opting for the simplified tax regime manage earnings less than firms in the general tax regime, and they manage earnings upwards while the latter manage earnings downwards. Furthermore, we conclude that accruals with high book-tax conformity are used to decrease taxable income and those with low conformity are used to increase accounting income. This leads us to conclude that lower book-tax conformity reduces earnings management. This single country case study contributes evidence on book-tax conformity issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Pais, Cláudio & Dias, Cláudia Afecto, 2022. "The implications of book-tax conformity and tax change for the earnings management of Portuguese micro firms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:46:y:2022:i:c:s1061951822000039
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2022.100448
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951822000039
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2022.100448?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Calegari, Michael J., 2000. "The effect of tax accounting rules on capital structure and discretionary accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-31, August.
    2. Marques, Mário & Rodrigues, Lúcia Lima & Craig, Russell, 2011. "Earnings management induced by tax planning: The case of Portuguese private firms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 83-96.
    3. Guenther, David A. & Maydew, Edward L. & Nutter, Sarah E., 1997. "Financial reporting, tax costs, and book-tax conformity," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 225-248, November.
    4. Sundvik, Dennis, 2017. "Book-tax conformity and earnings management in response to tax rate cuts," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 31-42.
    5. Gupta, Sanjay & Newberry, Kaye, 1997. "Determinants of the variability in corporate effective tax rates: Evidence from longitudinal data," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 1-34.
    6. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2005. "Earnings quality in UK private firms: comparative loss recognition timeliness," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 83-128, February.
    7. Steven Young, 1999. "Systematic Measurement Error in the Estimation of Discretionary Accruals: An Evaluation of Alternative Modelling Procedures," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7&8), pages 833-862.
    8. Atwood, T.J. & Drake, Michael S. & Myers, Linda A., 2010. "Book-tax conformity, earnings persistence and the association between earnings and future cash flows," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 111-125, May.
    9. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    10. Jennie Cho & Jilnaught Wong & Norman Wong, 2006. "Book-Tax Differences and Inland Revenue Audit Adjustments in New Zealand," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9-10), pages 1650-1667.
    11. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    12. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    13. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    14. Henrik Höglund & Dennis Sundvik, 2019. "Do auditors constrain intertemporal income shifting in private companies?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 245-270, April.
    15. Paul Hribar & Daniel W. Collins, 2002. "Errors in Estimating Accruals: Implications for Empirical Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 105-134, March.
    16. Jennie Cho & Jilnaught Wong & Norman Wong, 2006. "Book‐Tax Differences and Inland Revenue Audit Adjustments in New Zealand," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9‐10), pages 1650-1667, November.
    17. Dennis Sundvik, 2016. "Earnings management around Swedish corporate income tax reforms," International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(3), pages 261-286.
    18. Steven Young, 1999. "Systematic Measurement Error in the Estimation of Discretionary Accruals: An Evaluation of Alternative Modelling Procedures," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7‐8), pages 833-862, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adeyemo Kabiru Aderemi & Akinleye Bilikis & Omole Ilesanmi Isaac, 2023. "The Effect of Audit Quality on The Financial Performance of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(12), pages 107-118, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karampinis, Nikolaos I. & Hevas, Dimosthenis L., 2013. "Effects of IFRS Adoption on Tax-induced Incentives for Financial Earnings Management: Evidence from Greece," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 218-247.
    2. Luca Menicacci, 2022. "Financial reporting and book-tax conformity: A review of the issues," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(1), pages 41-77.
    3. Sundvik, Dennis, 2017. "Book-tax conformity and earnings management in response to tax rate cuts," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 31-42.
    4. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    5. Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis E. & Asteriou, Dimitrios & Kousenidis, Dimitrios & Leventis, Stergios, 2013. "The impact of IFRS on accounting quality: Evidence from Greece," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 108-123.
    6. Ferrer García, Cristina & Laínez Gadea, José Antonio, 2013. "Detectando diferencias en la medición de la calidad del resultado: evidencia empírica para empresas españolas || Detecting Differences on the Earnings Quality Measurement: Empirical Evidence on Spanis," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 16(1), pages 5-28, December.
    7. Susana Callao & José I. Jarne & David Wróblewski, 2017. "Why Do Companies From Emerging Countries Manage Earnings?," Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, Eurasian Publications, vol. 5(2), pages 60-84.
    8. Ke Zhong & Robert B. Welker & Donald W. Gribbin, 2010. "Method‐Shifting in Aggressive Earnings Reporting: The Case of the US Software Industry's Response to New US Regulation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7‐8), pages 792-814, July.
    9. Susana Callao & José I. Jarne & David Wróblewski, 2019. "A New Perspective on Earnings Management in Emerging European Countries: Investigation on Environmental Factors that Explain Differences in Earnings Management," Journal of Accounting, Business and Finance Research, Scientific Publishing Institute, vol. 7(2), pages 59-81.
    10. Evers, Maria Theresia & Meier, Ina & Nicolay, Katharina, 2017. "The implications of book-tax differences: A meta-analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-003, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Sundvik Dennis, 2017. "A review of earnings management in private firms in response to tax rate changes," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2017(1), pages 151-161, January.
    12. Yang, Jingwen & Hemmings, Danial & Jaafar, Aziz & Jackson, Richard H.G., 2022. "The real earnings management gap between private and public firms: Evidence from Europe," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    13. Christian Calmès & Denis Cormier & Francois Éric Racicot & Raymond Théoret, 2012. "Firms' Accruals and Tobin’s q," RePAd Working Paper Series UQO-DSA-wp032012, Département des sciences administratives, UQO.
    14. Katsuo, Yuko, 2008. "Earnings quality, accruals and subjective goodwill accounting," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6912, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Ke Zhong & Robert B. Welker & Donald W. Gribbin, 2010. "Method-Shifting in Aggressive Earnings Reporting: The Case of the US Software Industry's Response to New US Regulation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7-8), pages 792-814.
    16. Loureiro, Gilberto & Silva, Sónia, 2022. "Earnings management and stock price crashes post U.S. cross-delistings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    17. Araceli Mora Enguidanos & Juan Manuel García Lara & Beatriz García Osma & Ana Gisbert Clemente, 2004. "La Comparabilidad De La Información Contable En Europa: Efectos De La Manipulación Contable Sobre El Nivel De Conservadurismo," Working Papers. Serie EC 2004-14, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    18. Dhole, Sandip & Lobo, Gerald J. & Mishra, Sagarika & Pal, Ananda M., 2015. "Effects of the SEC's XBRL mandate on financial reporting comparability," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 29-44.
    19. Elisabete F. Simões Vieira, 2016. "Earnings Management in Public Family Firms under Economic Adversity," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(2), pages 190-207, June.
    20. Juan Manuel García Lara & Beatriz García Osma & Araceli Mora, 2005. "The Effect of Earnings Management on the Asymmetric Timeliness of Earnings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3‐4), pages 691-726, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:46:y:2022:i:c:s1061951822000039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.