Volume 13 No. 2, December 2014
ARTICLE INFO
Article History:
Received: 03 March 2014
Accepted: 28 September 2014
Published: 30 December 2014
MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTING REVIEW, VOLUME 13 NO. 2, DECEMBER 2014
GOVERNANCE AND THE VALUE RELEVANCE OF TAX AVOIDANCE
Akmalia M. Ariff, Hafiza A. Hashim
Department of Accounting and Finance
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia
Department of Accounting and Finance
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
This paper provides evidence on the link amongst governance, tax avoidance and firm value. We examine whether tax avoidance is associated with firm value and whether the strength of such relation is dependent on the quality of governance. We employ Effective Tax Rates (ETR) to measure tax avoidance and the Malaysia Corporate Governance (MCG) Index to rate firm-level governance. The findings rely on analysis of 203 firms that are listed in the MCG Index between 2009 and 2011. We find that tax avoidance is viewed by investors as a value-enhancing activity, and that the value relevance of tax avoidance is greater for firms with higher-quality governance.
Keywords: tax avoidance, MCG Index, Malaysia
Keywords: tax avoidance, MCG Index, Malaysia