Corporate Tax Avoidance and Firm Value Discount

Abstract

We analyze the valuation-tax avoidance relation and find there is, in fact, a market value discount for tax avoidance. We identify several channels for the adverse valuation effects of tax avoidance. Tax-avoiding firms that (i) lack foreign income, (ii) are financially constrained, and (iii) incur relatively high capital expenditures have lower valuations. A portfolio long the highest and short the lowest tax-avoiding firms has a significantly positive four-factor alpha, highlighting greater risk and thus lower valuation associated with tax avoidance. Our results are robust to a variety of tests, including several different tax avoidance measures.