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The determinants of thinly capitalized tax avoidance structures: Evidence from Australian firms

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  • Taylor, Grantley
  • Richardson, Grant

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of thinly capitalized structures of publicly-listed Australian firms. Based on a hand-collected sample of 203 publicly-listed Australian firms over the 2006–2009 period (812 firm-years), our regression results indicate that the thin capitalization position of firms is significantly and positively associated with multinationality, tax haven utilization, withholding taxes and tax uncertainty. Multinationality and the use of tax havens are, in particular, strongly associated with thin capitalization. Our additional regression results provide evidence that shows that corporate governance monitoring mechanisms relating to board of director independence, institutional ownership and big-4 auditor utilization are significantly negatively associated with firms adopting thinly capitalized tax avoidance structures.

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  • Taylor, Grantley & Richardson, Grant, 2013. "The determinants of thinly capitalized tax avoidance structures: Evidence from Australian firms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 12-25.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:12-25
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2013.02.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Arfah Habib Saragih & Syaiful Ali, 2023. "Corporate tax risk: a literature review and future research directions," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 527-577, June.
    3. Enas Abdullah Hassan, 2020. "The Economic Consequence Of International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption: Evidence From Corporate Tax Avoidance In Gulf States," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 12(1), pages 45-65.
    4. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2020. "Multinational enterprises and corporate tax planning: A review of literature and suggestions for a future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3).
    5. Argilés-Bosch, Josep M. & Somoza, Antonio & Ravenda, Diego & García-Blandón, Josep, 2020. "An empirical examination of the influence of e-commerce on tax avoidance in Europe," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    6. Patrick Velte, 2023. "Sustainable institutional investors, corporate sustainability performance, and corporate tax avoidance: Empirical evidence for the European capital market," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2406-2418, September.
    7. Dirk Schindler & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2013. "Transfer Pricing and Debt Shifting in Multinationals," CESifo Working Paper Series 4381, CESifo.
    8. repec:hal:journl:hal-04786711 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Arie Pratama, 2020. "Corporate governance, foreign operations and transfer pricing practice: the case of Indonesian manufacturing companies," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 24(2), pages 185-200.

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