Determinants of tax avoidance–evidence on profit tax-paying companies in Romania

Abstract

Our objective is to investigate the determinants of tax avoidance in Romanian companies in 2013–2017. Our initial sample comprises 236 privately owned companies that are payers of profit tax and have been found guilty of tax evasion. This was matched with 236 ‘compliant’ companies structured similarly by industry, whereas the final sample comprises 1674-year-observations. We defined ‘compliant’ those companies that have never been prosecuted for tax evasion. Our main finding is that larger companies with lower financial performance and lower leverage ratio are more inclined towards tax avoidance. The geographical region and the industry sector in which companies operate in are also determining their tax avoidant-behaviour. Surprisingly, the fiscal regulations amended starting with 2016 did not lead to an apparent exacerbation of tax avoidance among profit tax payers.