The impact of tax accounting and planning on earnings management: Evidence from panel ARDL approach

Creative Commons License

Gündüz M.

PLOS ONE, vol.20, no.11, pp.1-15, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 20 Issue: 11
  • Publication Date: 2025
  • Doi Number: 10.1371/journal.pone.0336911
  • Journal Name: PLOS ONE
  • Journal Indexes: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-15
  • Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
  • Uşak University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Some companies may mislead stakeholders by using the flexibility in accounting

standards when determining the amount of profit to be disclosed, a practice referred

to as earnings management. Deferred taxes are one of the flexibilities that enable

this practice. This study contributes to the growing literature on earnings management

in private companies by focusing on deferred taxes and tax planning. The

purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between deferred tax assets,

deferred tax expense and tax planning of companies with earnings management.

Data from companies listed in the Borsa Istanbul BIST 30 index in Türkiye for 2013–

2022 are analyzed using panel data methods. The study results show that deferred

tax expenses and deferred tax assets negatively impact earnings management.

The analysis including tax planning reveals that deferred tax expenses, deferred

tax assets and tax planning also have a negative impact on earnings management.

However, tax planning reduces the impact of deferred tax expense on earnings

management.