Graduation Year
2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Business Administration
Major Professor
Dahlia Robinson, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Uday Murthy, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Thomas Smith, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Ninon Sutton, Ph.D.
Keywords
Financial Reporting of Income Taxes, Information Content, Voluntary Disclosure, Tax-Motivated Transfer Pricing, Multinational Taxation
Abstract
In this study I investigate whether managers’ voluntary disclosure of transfer pricing information in the 10-K is related to firms’ tax reporting transparency. Transfer pricing disclosures could be used to convey managers’ private information about risks and uncertainties underlying firms’ transfer pricing activities or alternatively be used to discount or disclaim these risks. Using several common proxies for tax reporting transparency, I find evidence that transfer pricing disclosures are generally associated with lower tax transparency, suggesting that these disclosures may be primarily opportunistic. However, when firms use their auditor for transfer pricing services, I find that these transfer pricing disclosures are associated with greater tax reporting transparency. Additionally, I find that higher quality disclosures (measured by disclosure length) are also associated with greater transparency. One implication of these findings is that the auditor could potentially improve the quality of firms’ transfer pricing disclosures, which is beneficial to financial statement users.
Scholar Commons Citation
Walton, Stephanie Y., "Are Transfer Pricing Disclosures Related to Tax Reporting Transparency? The Impact of Auditor-Provided Transfer Pricing Services" (2019). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/8422
