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Corporate tax avoidance: data truncation and loss firms

Author

Listed:
  • Erin Henry

    (University of Memphis)

  • Richard Sansing

    (Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
    CentER, Tilburg University)

Abstract

Loss firms are an economically significant and growing segment of the population of publicly traded corporations. Relatively little is known about the tax positions of loss firms because the firms are typically dropped from tax avoidance studies. We develop a new measure of corporate cash tax avoidance that is meaningful for all observations and reflects the extent to which a firm is tax-favored. We examine the extent to which inferences about corporate tax avoidance over the past twenty-seven years change when we examine the full population of firms, as opposed to a profitable and/or taxable subsample. In contrast to prior research findings, our results suggest that on average firms are tax-disfavored, by which we mean cash taxes paid exceed the product of the firm’s pre-tax book income and the statutory tax rate. In addition, many industries that appear to be tax-favored in profitable subsamples are tax-disfavored when the entire population is examined. We also find that the extent to which firms are tax-disfavored is increasing over time, and that domestic firms are more tax-disfavored than multinationals.

Suggested Citation

  • Erin Henry & Richard Sansing, 2018. "Corporate tax avoidance: data truncation and loss firms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1042-1070, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:23:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11142-018-9448-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-018-9448-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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