The disclosure of tax risk in the financial reports of public companies

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to analyze the scope and quality of tax risk disclosures in financial reports. With this objective, the following research question was formulated: In what areas and in what detail do listed companies in Poland disclose information about tax risk? The subject of tax risk disclosures was raised due to numerous changes to fiscal regulations introduced in recent years aimed at tightening the tax system. In the common opinion of entrepreneurs, the structure and content of the new regulations are ambiguous, raise many doubts, and impose on taxpayers a wide scope of reporting to tax authorities. In conjunction with the imposition of additional penal and fiscal sanctions, it leads to an increase in tax risk. Methodology/approach: A literature review was conducted, and legal acts were ana-lyzed. Also, qualitative empirical research of the content of financial reports was carried out using the original simplified disclosure index. Findings: The results of the survey indicate large disproportions between companies in the scope of disclosed information, and the lack of consistency between various aspects of disclosures. It is also disturbing that the only conducted fiscal inspections help draw atten-tion to this area of business risk. Originality/value: The issue of tax risk disclosure has not been analyzed by Polish researchers so far; thus, this article fills a research gap. The results of the research expand the existing knowledge about disclosures in financial reports. They are also of practical importance both for the companies and their stakeholders.