The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia
Firms have the incentive to engage in corporate tax avoidance when the marginal benefits exceed the marginal costs. In fact, when firms are under financial distress, the benefits of tax avoidance outweigh the costs, increasing the incentive to avoid tax. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 pro...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Elsevier BV * North-Holland
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32638 |
| _version_ | 1848753718307061760 |
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| author | Richardson, G. Taylor, Grantley Lanis, R. |
| author_facet | Richardson, G. Taylor, Grantley Lanis, R. |
| author_sort | Richardson, G. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Firms have the incentive to engage in corporate tax avoidance when the marginal benefits exceed the marginal costs. In fact, when firms are under financial distress, the benefits of tax avoidance outweigh the costs, increasing the incentive to avoid tax. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 provides a unique setting to consider whether tax avoidance differs from the pre-GFC and post-GFC periods, and whether firm management is compelled to engage in aggressive tax avoidance during periods of severe financial distress. This study examines the impact of financial distress on tax avoidance and in particular, the impact of the GFC on the association between financial distress and tax avoidance. Based on a sample of 203 publicly-listed Australian firms covering the 2006–2010 period, the regression results show that financial distress is significantly and positively associated with tax avoidance across several proxy measures of tax avoidance and financial distress. More importantly, according to the regression results, the association between financial distress and tax avoidance was magnified on account of the GFC. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:28:58Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-32638 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:28:58Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV * North-Holland |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-326382017-09-13T15:27:37Z The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia Richardson, G. Taylor, Grantley Lanis, R. Firms have the incentive to engage in corporate tax avoidance when the marginal benefits exceed the marginal costs. In fact, when firms are under financial distress, the benefits of tax avoidance outweigh the costs, increasing the incentive to avoid tax. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 provides a unique setting to consider whether tax avoidance differs from the pre-GFC and post-GFC periods, and whether firm management is compelled to engage in aggressive tax avoidance during periods of severe financial distress. This study examines the impact of financial distress on tax avoidance and in particular, the impact of the GFC on the association between financial distress and tax avoidance. Based on a sample of 203 publicly-listed Australian firms covering the 2006–2010 period, the regression results show that financial distress is significantly and positively associated with tax avoidance across several proxy measures of tax avoidance and financial distress. More importantly, according to the regression results, the association between financial distress and tax avoidance was magnified on account of the GFC. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32638 10.1016/j.econmod.2014.09.015 Elsevier BV * North-Holland restricted |
| spellingShingle | Richardson, G. Taylor, Grantley Lanis, R. The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title | The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title_full | The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title_short | The Impact of Financial Distress on Corporate Tax Avoidance Spanning the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia |
| title_sort | impact of financial distress on corporate tax avoidance spanning the global financial crisis: evidence from australia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32638 |