|
on Accounting and Auditing |
| By: | Lipatov, Vilen |
| Abstract: | Economists agree that accounting specialists are helpful in avoiding taxes. We argue that such help can often be called sophisticated evasion. We analyze it in a game of incomplete information played by tax authority, corporate taxpayers and accounting specialist. When sophisticated evasion is very common, marginal changes in enforcement are not effective, so radical measures are needed for improving compliance. Fines on firms as opposed to specialist are more effective in facilitating such measures. When the evasion is modest, auditing and accounting costs as opposed to fines are more effective in curbing it. |
| Keywords: | tax evasion; tax avoidance; sophisticated evasion |
| JEL: | H32 H26 |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14181&r=acc |
| By: | Albers, Felicitas G. (Department of Economics of the Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Within the framework of an effective and efficient compliance audit, the corporate governance is responsible for protection against fraud. Computer assisted analytic procedures, such as data screening, data mining and so on, have to meet the standards of data protection and workers co-determination. The paper considers the so-called "data scandal" of Deutsche Bahn AG in 2009 and its perception by the German public. |
| Keywords: | digital analysis, digital rights, forensic accounting, fraud, compliance audit |
| JEL: | M21 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ddf:wpaper:fobe06&r=acc |
| By: | Troaca, Victor; Troaca, Mihaela-Elvira |
| Abstract: | Strengthening of the annual financial statements of companies that are in some cases explicitly regulated is a legal obligation stemming on the part of international practice and on the other side of prudential requirements and supervision. Specificity and impact on the banking, financial and economic environment, coupled with the trend of globalization of banking, requires more than paying special attention to strengthening of the annual financial statements of the banks. On paper, there are presented a series of issues related to the strengthening of the annual financial statements of the banks which are Romanian legal entities. |
| Keywords: | Bank/ Financial situations consolidation/ Regulation/ Strengthened report/ Audit |
| JEL: | M41 G28 G21 |
| Date: | 2008–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14233&r=acc |
| By: | P. EVERAERT; L. BOUTEN; L. VAN LIEDEKERKE; L. DE MOOR; J. CHRISTIAENS |
| Abstract: | To reveal all the patterns that exist in corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, content analysis must provide an answer to the following three questions: (1) Which CSR topics are disclosed? – a question regarding content; (2) What is the extent of disclosures on the different CSR topics? – a question regarding extent; (3) What types of CSR disclosure are made? – a question regarding quality. In this paper, we develop a content analysis framework that simultaneously addresses these three questions.<br><br>The framework consists of two dimensions. The first dimension is based on the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Through this dimension, the content and the extent of disclosures can be captured. The second dimension distinguishes between four types of disclosure. The first three – Values & Principles, Management Approach, and Future Plans – largely are based on the work of Vuontisjärvi (2006). The fourth type of disclosure – Performance Indicators – is based on the list of performance indicators in the GRI.<br><br>The case of listed Belgian firms is used to illustrate the developed methodology and to demonstrate its usefulness answering a wide range of research questions. <br><br>By following the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the GRI and providing complete transparency, the developed content analysis framework can be applied broadly by the research community, so as to enhance knowledge regarding CSR reporting practices in different settings and countries. |
| Keywords: | content analysis; corporate social responsibility; disclosure; Global Reporting Initiative; methodology; sustainability reporting |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:09/557&r=acc |
| By: | Troaca, Victor |
| Abstract: | The banking societies, as economical entities with specific activities inside the economy, draw up yearly financial situations, as well as in the situations designedly specified by the lawgiver. The financial yearly situations which the banking companies are compelled to draw up and at the same time to assure their publication, are made up of a unitarian documents system, namely: balance sheet, account of profit and loss, situation of modifications of proper capitals, situation of cash ebbs and flows and explanatory notes. To ensure a whole conformity with the European practice, as well as the assurance of comparability of yearly synthesis information presented by the Romanian banking companies with those of European banking companies, the contents, the structure and the way of drawing up of these documents has been designedly regulated by the Romanian authorities. These situations are presented as a unity whole and in a clearer manner in order to reflect the faithful image of the assets, debts, financial position, profit or loss and also of treasury ebbs and flows of the concerned bank.. The indicators presented inside the yearly financial situations made by the banking companies, have s synthesis character, reflecting different states or components of their acitivity, and the knowledge of content and their significance is being essential both in drawing papers and subsequently in the analysis of grouped or individual indicators or the ensemble activity of one or another of the banking societies. The balance sheet and the account of profit and loss have a central place in the ensemble of these yearly sinthesis documents, for which reason our analysis should focus on their presentation. |
| Keywords: | Banking societies/ balance sheet/ profit account/ loss account |
| JEL: | M41 G20 |
| Date: | 2008–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14299&r=acc |
| By: | David Wildasin (Martin School of Public Policy and Administration and Department of Economics, University of Kentucky) |
| Abstract: | Acting in the interest of their residents, within limits imposed by Federal statute and by the Constitution, states have incentives to impose taxes on the profits of corporations owned by nonresidents. This paper presents a model within which a state, using an apportionment formula that includes a sales factor, would choose to tax the income of out-of-state corporations that derive revenues from the sale or licensing of intangible assets to in-state customers, provided that such corporations have sufficient nexus to be taxable. Although such policies enable states to capture rents from nonresidents, they also introduce tax distortions by imposing implicit tariffs on sales by out-of-state firms. |
| JEL: | H7 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifr:wpaper:2009-08&r=acc |
| By: | Finn Poschmann (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Putting an end to Ontario’s archaic retail sales tax and adopting a value-added tax like the GST would sharply lower the effective tax rate on new business investment and offer the province a much-needed economic boost. |
| Keywords: | sales tax, VAT, consumer prices |
| JEL: | H71 R51 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:75&r=acc |
| By: | I. VERLEYEN; I. DE BEELDE |
| Abstract: | Industry specialization can be seen as a differentiation strategy of the auditor. Previous research demonstrates the advantages of such a strategy (e.g., DeFond et al., 2000; Balsam et al., 2003; Dunn and Mayhew, 2004). The literature uses two constructs to measure specialization, the market share of an auditor in a specific market, and a portfolio approach focusing on the major industries in the portfolio of clients of the auditor (e.g., Hogan and Jeter, 1999; Balsam et al., 2003; Neal and Riley, 2004).<br><br>The objective of this paper is to investigate whether auditor specialization is consistent across countries. Compared to competing auditors, an industry specialized auditor must have unique assets that result in clients in that specific industry systematically choosing the specialist auditor. Logically, this specialist knowledge can translate into an audit methodology that is specifically suited for this industry. Large audit firms make significant investments in developing tools to assist auditors in applying this methodology. As the specialized knowledge of auditors can be transferred from one country to another, we can expect that industry specialization is consistent across countries for international audit firms. If an audit approach, specifically designed for an industry, is transferred through manuals to another country, one can expect that the audit firm has the same competitive advantage in that other country. This would result in consistent patterns in international auditor specialization. If this can not be observed, it might mean that the audit firm does not have an audit methodology that results in competitive advantage or that this methodology is not transferred from one country to another. <br><br>We use data on 55 235 European companies to analyze auditor specialization and find a relative degree of consistency across countries. The paper starts with a review of the relevant literature, describes our data and presents the results of our analysis. |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:09/564&r=acc |
| By: | Murphy, Alan P. (Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | This paper tests to what extent are corporate tax differentials motivating the reallocation of reported profits between EU parent multinationals and their European based affiliates. Hines and Rice (1994) report that a 1-percentage point reduction in corporation tax induces a 3% rise in reported profitability of European based affiliates of US parent multinationals. When aggregated firm-level tax data are used and do not directly control for the parent-affiliate pair-wise trading environments, we obtain a semi-elasticity of -2.4 that is similar to previous research. But when we apply firm-level information on the total bundle of tax liabilities and control for the trading environment of each parent-affiliate pair we obtain a semi-elasticity of –0.25. This suggests that while corporation tax differences do affect reported profitability; the magnitude of this effect is lower than previously reported in studies using information from U.S. owned multinationals. |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:wpaper:3/rt/09&r=acc |
| By: | Dahlby, Bev (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | An optimal tax system equates the marginal cost of public funds across all tax bases. This idea is applied to a federation to derive the optimal unconditional transfers that will promote an optimal allocation of taxation and expenditures among the governments in the federation. This approach provides insights into the concepts of vertical and horizontal fiscal imbalance, fiscal capacity, and fiscal need. Expressions for the optimal fiscal equalization grant and the optimal vertical fiscal gap are derived. We also show how the marginal cost of public funds affects the optimal matching grant rate for activities that generate expenditure externalities. |
| Keywords: | intergovernmental grants; median voter model; fiscal federalism; vertical fiscal gap; vertical fiscal imbalance; fiscal capacity; fiscal need |
| JEL: | H21 H71 H72 H77 |
| Date: | 2009–03–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2009_016&r=acc |