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Measuring income tax accrual quality

Author

Listed:
  • Preeti Choudhary

    (Georgetown University)

  • Allison Koester

    (Georgetown University)

  • Terry Shevlin

    (University of California-Irvine)

Abstract

We develop and validate a measure of tax accrual quality. Tax accrual quality captures variation in the extent to which the income tax accrual maps into income tax-related cash flows, with lower variation indicating a higher quality tax accrual. Low tax accrual quality arises from (1) management estimation error and (2) financial reporting standards that lead to differences between income tax expense and income tax cash flows not captured by deferred tax assets and liabilities. We validate our tax accrual quality measure by showing it is associated with firm characteristics that capture both constructs and by demonstrating it predicts future tax-related restatements and internal control material weaknesses. We illustrate the importance of our measure by showing that investors view tax expense as more informative in firms with better tax accrual quality. Future researchers can use tax accrual quality to address questions related to estimation error in the income tax account.

Suggested Citation

  • Preeti Choudhary & Allison Koester & Terry Shevlin, 2016. "Measuring income tax accrual quality," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 89-139, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:21:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1007_s11142-015-9336-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-015-9336-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Michelle Hutchens & Sonja O. Rego & Brian Williams, 2024. "The impact of standard setting on individual investors: evidence from SFAS 109," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 1407-1455, June.
    3. Prateek Sharma, 2022. "Management quality, M-rating, and bank failures," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 1-32, February.
    4. Song, Qian & Holland, Kevin, 2023. "The quality of tax accounting for financial reporting purposes: International evidence from the United Kingdom," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    5. Martin Jacob & Kelly Wentland & Scott A. Wentland, 2022. "Real Effects of Tax Uncertainty: Evidence from Firm Capital Investments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(6), pages 4065-4089, June.
    6. Sean T. McGuire & Stevanie S. Neuman & Sarah C. Rice, 2020. "Interim Effective Tax Rate Estimates and Internal Control Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 603-633, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax accrual quality; Financial reporting; Income taxes; Estimation error;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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