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Schedule UTP requires that firms disclose to the IRS the uncertain tax positions that comprise the federal portion of the tax reserve disclosed on their financial statements. To investigate whether Schedule UTP has been an effective audit tool to the IRS, we use financial statement disclosures of reductions in reserves due to a lapse in the statute of limitations (Lapse). We find that the probability of a Lapse is 3.4 percent lower after Schedule UTP. However, this result is driven by domestic firms; we do not find evidence that Schedule UTP has been effective in the audit of multinational firms.

We examine the relationship between tax-related accounting misstatements and changes in the uncertain tax benefits accrual account in the year of the disclosure of a misstatement. We find that the disclosure of a tax-related misstatement is associated with an increase in unrecognized tax benefits during that year. We show that the increase in unrecognized tax benefits in the year of disclosure is from uncertain tax positions taken in prior periods. Overall, this finding is consistent with increase in financial reporting conservatism upon disclosure of tax-related accounting misstatement.

This paper aims to describe the SFAS 109/Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification 740.

This paper is an overview of a topic.

SFAS 109 establishes the financial accounting and reporting standards for the effects of federal, state and foreign income taxes.

The paper is a good discussion for non‐tax financial executives. It is a valuable read for anyone looking for an introductory paper on the subject.

Prior studies document a positive relation between stock prices and tax-related contingent liability, unrecognized tax benefits (UTBs) and interpret the finding as evidence that investors reward tax aggressiveness. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of this puzzle finding by considering a link between UTBs and financial reporting strategy and propose that financial reporting conservatism may explain the positive association between UTBs and stock prices.

To estimate the incremental valuation weights on UTBs, the authors employ the Ohlson (1995) valuation model and regress stock prices on UTBs and its interactions with the proxies for financial reporting conservatism and tax aggressiveness. Further, the authors adopt a UTB estimation model to decompose its balance into the predicted and unpredicted components.

The authors find that the reporting conservatism has a positive effect on the market valuation of UTBs. The authors also find some evidence that tax aggressiveness increases the valuation weight of UTBs. When UTBs are decomposed into predicted and unpredicted components, the authors find that the effect of financial reporting conservatism is more pronounced for the market valuation of predicted UTBs. Collectively, the evidence suggests that conservative financial reporting is a major driver of the positive valuation of UTBs and that tax aggressiveness plays a less significant role in investors' valuation decisions.

While prior studies focus on how UTBs are associated with stock prices, this paper is the first attempt to explain why UTBs are positively valued by investors.

This paper examines the relationship between environmental uncertainty and tax avoidance at the firm level. We posit that managers faced with more uncertain environments are likely to engage in more tax avoidance activities. We find a significant and negative relationship between environmental uncertainty and effective tax rates, and our results persist through a battery of robust checks. We further find that managerial ability mitigates the above relationship. Moreover, we find that small, highly leveraged, and innovative firms operating in uncertain environments engage in more tax avoidance.

We investigate the interaction of debt covenants and tax accounting on the adoption of Financial Interpretation No. 48 (FIN 48). We examine how firms respond to the potential tightening of covenant slack upon FIN 48 adoption and whether these actions are penalized by creditors and anticipated by equity markets. We find that upon FIN 48 adoption, the majority of sample corporate borrowers increase their tax reserves and reduce equity. Firms close to debt covenant violation were even more likely to increase tax reserves upon FIN 48 adoption; however, the size of the adjustment was relatively smaller, suggesting that the FIN 48 standards limited, but did not eliminate, firms use of discretion in reporting uncertain tax positions to avoid costly covenant violations. For firms near net worth debt covenant violation, the act of decreasing equity upon FIN 48 adoption imposes real economic costs, as the average cost of debt increased by 43 basis points. Finally, we extend prior research on the market response to FIN 48 by showing how the market response to FIN 48 adoption is a function of debt covenant slack and tax aggressiveness. Specifically, the cumulative abnormal return at the FIN 48 exposure draft release date is negative only for tax aggressive firms that are close to debt covenant violation.

This study aims to use research setting provided by the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation 48 (FIN48) to help develop a further understanding of large positive book–tax differences (LPBTD) and their relationship with earnings persistence. Extant literature indicates that the tax information provided in financial statements, such as large book–tax differences, is useful for detecting earnings management and signals less persistent future earnings. However, more information is needed about the causes of large book–tax differences and their abilities to signal the differences in earnings persistence (Blaylock et al., 2012).

In the first step, temporary book–tax differences are ranked by quintiles based on the approach in Hanlon’s (2005) study and the highest quintile in the sample observations are designated as large positive temporary book–tax differences (LPBTD). In the second step, differences in the persistence of earnings for high tax-planning firms as measured by UTB_NonETR are searched for. In further testing, an ordered logistic model and the Vuong (1989) test are applied to compare both the incremental and the relative ability of UTB_NonETR and Cash-ETR to explain the ranking order of temporary book–tax differences.

The negative relation between temporary differences and earnings persistence is moderated by the level of tax planning as measured by UTB_NonETRs. More specifically, the persistence of earnings appears to be higher for firm-years with large UTB_NonETRs. When comparing the relative power of UTB_NonETR with Cash-ETR, the results indicate that UTB_NonETR is incrementally useful for explaining the ranking orders of temporary book–tax differences. However, it appears that neither UTB_NonETR nor Cash-ETR is relatively more useful over another under the Vuong (1989) test.

First, the part of UTB, if recognized, that would not affect earnings (UTB_NonETR) is used as an empirical proxy and its usefulness is tested in the context of book–tax differences and the persistence of earnings. Second, new evidence is provided supporting the predictions, as in Ayers’ et al. (2010) and Blaylock et al.’s (2012) studies, that the level of tax planning will attenuate the negative association between large book–tax differences and earnings quality. Third, the findings can contribute to the post-implementation review of FIN48 (Financial Accounting Foundation, 2012) supporting the argument that FIN48 can provide decision-useful information for financial statement users.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of managerial ability on corporate tax risk and long-term tax avoidance using the upper echelons theory.

This study uses a quantitative method with regression models, using a sample of listed firms on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2018.

The regression results report that managerial ability negatively influences tax risk and positively impacts long-run tax avoidance. Companies with more able managers have a relatively lower tax risk and greater long-run tax avoidance. The results reveal that firms with managers that possess greater abilities are more committed to long-run tax avoidance while concurrently maintaining a lower level of their tax risk. The impacts the authors report are statistically significant and robust, as proved by a series of robustness checks and additional tests.

This study only includes firms from one developing country.

The empirical results might be of interest to board members while envisaging the benefits and costs of appointing and hiring managers, as well as to the tax authority and the other stakeholders interested in apprehending how managerial ability influences corporate tax risk and long-run tax avoidance practices simultaneously.

This study proposes and tests an explanation for the impact of managerial ability on corporate tax risk and long-run avoidance simultaneously in the context of an emerging country.

This study examines the impact of FASB Interpretation No. 48 (FIN48), Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, on earnings management (EM) activity, by focusing on changes in the deferred tax asset valuation allowance (DTVA). FIN48 was adopted, in part, over concerns that firms were using the reserve for uncertain tax positions (cushion) to manage earnings. However, there are reasons to believe that the adoption of FIN48 may have impacted the extent to which firms utilize DTVA changes as a strategic accounting choice. As the provision for income taxes is one of the final accounts closed prior to an earnings announcement, income tax accounting is generally regarded as a final opportunity to strategically meet earnings goals. To the extent that FIN48 reduced cushion-based EM, firms may have increasingly used DTVA changes as a substitute. Alternatively, the attention that FIN48 brought to firms’ income tax footnotes may have curbed the strategic use of income tax accounting, in general. This study employs a sample of publicly traded US firms over the period of 2003–2010. A regression model and an analysis of the frequency of DTVA-based EM reveal no evidence of a systematic change in behavior attributable to FIN48. However, further analysis reveals that firms identified as managing earnings to meet analyst forecasts increasingly used discretionary DTVA changes relative to changes in tax cushion in the post-FIN48 period. The results have implications for existing research on income tax-based EM.

In 2001, the US moved to regulate internal control reporting by management and auditors. While some jurisdictions have followed the lead of the US, many others have not. An important question, therefore, is the relevance of internal control to stakeholders. The more specific issue of the benefits of US-style regulation of internal control reporting is also topical. We review studies on the determinants of internal control quality and its economic consequences for stakeholders including investors, creditors, managers, auditors and financial analysts. We extend previous reviews by focusing on US studies published since 2013 as well as all non-US studies investigating IC quality including countries regulating IC disclosure as well as unregulated settings and both developed and developing economies. In doing so, we identify research questions where evidence remains mixed and new directions in which there are research opportunities.

Three main insights arise from our analysis. First, evidence on the economic consequences of internal control quality suggests that the quality of internal control can have a significant effect on decision making by users of financial information. Second, the results of research on the empirical association between ownership structure, certain board characteristics and internal control quality is generally mixed. Empirical evidence concerning the association between audit committee characteristics and internal control quality generally supports a positive and significant association. Finally, while studies in non-US jurisdictions are increasing, opportunities remain to explore the determinants and consequences of internal control in other jurisdictions. Our review provides evidence for policy makers of whether there are benefits from requiring management and auditors to report on internal control over financial reporting.