Business Commons^™

Two Essays On The Tax Consequences Of Auditor Litigation Risk : Evidence From Quasi-Natural Experiments, Felix Owusu

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, auditors have legal liability to third parties under federal securities law and state common laws, which vary in the degree of liability. Whereas auditors are liable to security traders for fraud under the federal securities law, they are liable for ordinary negligence under common law. Using a sample of company-year observations from 1982 to 2015, I examine the implications of the adoption of common law statutes on audit client tax outcomes. My thesis consists of two essays. The first one examines how the staggered adoption of these common law principles that increased third-party auditor legal liability …

Effects Of Management And Media Disclosures Of Corporate Tax Evasion On Investor Judgments, Ming Wei Gabriel Chua

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations

This study examines investor reactions to disclosures of corporate tax evasion by company management and the media. We were particularly interested in the issue of whether investors value corporate tax compliance from a moral perspective. We conducted an experiment in which we manipulate management disclosure strategies (no disclosure, symbolic disclosure, substantive disclosure) and the presence/absence of media disclosures in a 3 x 2 between-subjects design. Participants provided judgments of a hypothetical company’s short-term and long-term financial prospects and their willingness to maintain their investment in the company.

Media disclosure of tax evasion had a significant effect on all judgments. In …

The Danger Of Being Neighbors : Community Information And Corporate Tax Avoidance, Xiaowei Wang

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the relationship between tax officers’ access to community information and the effectiveness of tax authorities in constraining tax avoidance in China. Numerous studies document that people can obtain valuable information in the community in which their daily activities take place (community information). Focusing on a valuable setting in China in which corporate taxes are collected by tax offices that are located very close to firms (with an average distance of 6.5 km), this study examines whether tax officers’ access to community information at a firm’s location can reduce the firm’s tax avoidance. I broadly define tax avoidance …

Can Education Improve Tax Compliance? Evidence From Different Forms Of Tax Education, Raymond M. K. Wong, Wai-Yee, Agnes Lo

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

We examine whether tax compliance is improved via different forms of tax education. We argue that different types of tax education have respective impacts on tax compliance. To explore this empirical issue, we conduct a survey related to tax compliance among 205 students taking either a general tax course or a technical tax course in Hong Kong. Our findings suggest that sales tax compliance among undergraduate students was significantly improved if they had been exposed to a general tax education, and income and sales tax compliance among postgraduate students were significantly improved if they had taken a technical tax course.

Tax Reform: Postitive Directions For A Better World, Lok Sang Ho

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Tax Policy In Denmark (And Eu), Jens Holger Helbo Hansen

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Optimal Income Tax For China, Shuanglin Lin, Chengjian Li, Jinlu Li

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Hong Kong Tax Regime: Where Do We Go From Here?, Yvonne Law

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Tax Reform And Democratic Reform In Hong Kong, Richard Simmons

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Tax On Capital Income, Yong Wang, Wai Hong Ho

Hong Kong Economic Association Biennial Workshop

No abstract provided.

Tax Reform : Toward A Simpler, More Pro-Growth Tax Regime, Lok Sang Ho

Centre for Public Policy Studies : CPPS Working Paper Series

This paper proposes that tax reform should take the direction of focusing on economic rent as the tax base. Since personal incomes that are very high typically carries a large component of economic rent, even very high marginal tax rates may not have much adverse effect on effort provided that the tax bands are wide enough so that, say, 90% of the working population will enjoy very low marginal tax rates. From this perspective, the author proposes to abolish the profits tax altogether, but to treat dividends and capital gains (net of inflationary gains) the same as labor income.

Effects Of A Taxation Ethics Intervention On Hong Kong Undergraduates' Attitude Towards Tax Avoidance And Evasion, Richard S. Simmons

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

Increasing public concern over the ethical behaviour of accounting professionals, including those involved in providing tax services, has focused attention on the effectiveness of educational responses to the problem. Accordingly, this study investigates whether a tax ethics intervention imbedded in an undergraduate taxation course influences the attitudes towards tax avoidance and evasion of accounting major business students at a university in Hong Kong. The research also considers whether the intervention changes students' attitudes towards the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility (CESR).

The study adopts a survey approach incorporating a pre-test/post-test data collection methodology. The surveys include case studies …

The Impact Of Fiscal Support On Earnings Management : Evidence From Equity Offerings In China, Guanming He

Theses & Dissertations

It is well documented in existing literature that firms manipulate earnings before IPOs (initial public offerings) and SEOs (seasoned equity offerings). This study contributes to prior research by being the first to examine whether fiscal support from local governments has impact on the earnings management behavior of Chinese listed firms. Using data from firms that conduct IPOs and SEOs from 1997 to 2006, I find that firms are less likely to manipulate earnings prior to the offerings if they enjoy more income tax savings attributed to the preferential tax favor or more financial subsidy from the local governments.

The findings …

What Future For The Corporate Tax In The New Century?, Richard S. Simmons

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

It has long been recognised that the corporate tax suffers from several inherent deficiencies. However, in recent years, the transformation and integration of the world economy has exacerbated and highlighted these weaknesses, placing a question mark over the future of the tax. Through an examination of the problems besetting the tax today, a critical analysis of the conventional justifications for it, and a review of economic and political factors relevant to its continued existence, this article considers its future in the new century.

Five main criticisms of the tax are identified. First, allocating profit between tax jurisdictions is becoming increasingly …

An Empirical Analysis Of Book-Tax Reporting Difference And Tax Noncompliance Behavior In China, Feng Tang

Theses & Dissertations

The traditional accounting system in China was directly linked to the tax assessment. The close linkage between the two sets of reporting rules has substantially weakened, as China promulgated a series of accounting standards and regulations in the late 1990s. As a result, accounting for financial reporting purposes does not have to conform to accounting for tax reporting purposes. This divergence between the two measures of income will inevitably cause accounting book income to differ from taxable income. This is because the more the excess of book income over taxable income, the more the magnitude of tax audit adjustments. Mills …

International Transfer Pricing In A Developing Economy Context : Perspectives From The Taxpayers And The Tax Authorities, Wai Yee, Agnes Lo

Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1979 economic reforms, China has been characterized by a rapid increase in international trade and an inflow of foreign direct investment. Foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) play an increasing important role in the Chinese economy and are substantially engaged in transactions with affiliates outside China. Therefore, international transfer pricing in China has become a significant issue.

Empirical research on international transfer pricing has focused on multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developed countries. However, it is difficult to generalize their findings to MNCs operating in developing countries as the business environment of developing countries is quite different from that of …

An Investigation Into Whether A Link Exists Between Corporate Taxation And International Flows Of Direct Investment, Richard S. Simmons

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

The question of whether a country’s corporate tax regime has a significant influence on the level of foreign direct investment into that country is an important consideration in the design of national tax policy. This is especially true today in view of the recent increase in the global mobility of capital and subsequent increase in the importance of FDI to nations’ economies. However, research to date on this question has so far yielded inconclusive results.

By obtaining evaluations from taxation experts of the various attributes of the tax systems of selected countries, this study constructs indices of corporate tax attractiveness …