Enterprise Digital Transformation and Tax Avoidance: From the Perspective of Internal Control and Information Transparency
ZHANG Meng1, ZHANG Yongshen2, SONG Shunlin3
1. School of Accounting , Henan University of Economics and Law , Zhengzhou 450046, China; 2. Institute of Industrial Economics , Chinese Academy of Social Sciences , Beijing 100006, China; 3. School of Accounting , Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China
Abstract From the perspective of corporate tax avoidance, this paper examines the impact of digital transformation on the enterprise. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2020, this paper uses Python to grab the keywords of “digital transformation” in the annual report of enterprises, measures the degree of digital transformation of enterprises, and empirically tests the impact of digital transformation on tax avoidance and channel mechanism. The study shows that corporate digital transformation will significantly inhibit corporate tax avoidance behavior. Through the analysis of the function mechanism, these authors find that the digital transformation can restrain the management's aggressive tax avoidance behavior of seeking self-interest through the effective governance mechanism, which enables the management to weigh the benefits and costs of tax avoidance, and then affect the corporate tax avoidance strategy. Specifically, the corresponding internal control quality and information transparency have produced governance mechanisms and information intermediary effects, thus reducing the level of corporate tax avoidance. Further tests indicate that the inhibitory effect of enterprise digital transformation on tax avoidance is more significant in the case of state-owned enterprises, manufacturing and the low degree of marketization. The study expands the research in the fields of enterprise digital transformation and corporate tax avoidance, and provides relevant enlightenment for promoting the deep integration of digital economy and real economy.
ZHANG Meng,ZHANG Yongshen,SONG Shunlin. Enterprise Digital Transformation and Tax Avoidance: From the Perspective of Internal Control and Information Transparency. Economic Survey, 2022, 39(6): 0118.
2022, Vol. 39 
