Taboo or technical issue? An empirical assessment of taxation in sustainability reports
Autor: | Tanja Kirn, Inga Hardeck |
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Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: |
Double taxation
Public economics Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment business.industry Strategy and Management 05 social sciences Accounting 050201 accounting Tax reform Tax avoidance International taxation Dividend tax Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Value-added tax 0502 economics and business State income tax Economics business 050203 business & management Corporate tax General Environmental Science |
Zdroj: | Journal of Cleaner Production. 133:1337-1351 |
ISSN: | 0959-6526 |
Popis: | Prior literature offers mixed evidence on the existence of a link between corporate taxation and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This article contributes to this debate by examining the level of tax disclosure in sustainability reports by firms listed in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany from 2007 to 2012. The aim is to offer micro-level evidence of whether firms themselves perceive corporate tax payments as being part of their CSR. On the basis of a hand-collected 540-firm-year dataset of ninety publicly listed firms, the article shows that the level of tax disclosure was rather low. However, it did increase over time and was most prevalent in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the reports indicate considerable variation in attitudes toward taxation. Overall, the widespread silence on tax issues and a non-uniform treatment of taxation in sustainability reports underline the complex role of tax payments when it comes to CSR. Examination of determinants of disclosure shows that firms with lower effective tax rates, negative media coverage in tax matters, and industry-specific stakeholder pressure were generally more inclined to disclose tax information, which is in line with predictions based on stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Finally, the article discusses the importance of cultural and social norms when it comes to tax-related sustainability reporting and provides theoretical as well as regulatory implications. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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