Corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance: Channeling effect of family firms

Abstract

Although the relationship between tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility has been the subject of many studies, results have been inconclusive. In this study, we investigate this relationship from the agency perspective of family firms. Using 1156 firm-year observations from 94 firms listed on the Istanbul Stock exchange, we found that socially responsible non-family firms engage in tax avoidance activities through discretionary book-tax differences rather than tax avoidance through aggressive tax planning and tax sheltering, and this behavior is opposite in family firms. According to findings, family firms engage in more aggressive tax planning than non-family firms. This study also provides evidence about the external effects on the relationship between CSR and tax avoidance when family firms are monitored effectively by institutional investors or debtors. More specifically, external monitoring by institutional investors or debtors only affects the tax avoidance behaviors of non-family firms.