Financial Statement Aggressiveness Related to Tax Accounts and Tax-Related Accounting Misstatements

Abstract

In this study, we examine two questions: (1) whether financial statement aggressiveness related to tax accounts is associated with the likelihood of having tax-related misstatements in the financial statements, and (2) whether the disclosure of the need to restate prior years' financial statements for a tax-related reason influences tax-related financial statement aggressiveness related to tax accounts in the fiscal year of announcement. Recent evidence of an increase in the rate of tax-related accounting restatements motivates these questions. In this study, we find empirical evidence suggesting that tax-related financial statement aggressiveness is positively associated with the likelihood of having tax-related misstatements in the financial statements. We also find that in the year in which the need to restate prior years' financial statements is announced, companies with tax-related misstatements in their financial statements appear to be less tax-related financial statement aggressive compared to the control group.