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Project

Tax aggressiveness in private family firms in an Islamic context: the effect of firm religiosity and moral values (R-9897)

The main objective of this PhD is to investigate to what extent religiosity affects tax aggressive behaviour in family firms in an Islamic context. Religiosity is defined as the extent to which behaviour of a firm is influenced by the religion held by the members of the firm's dominant coalition. Tax aggressiveness is defined as downward management of taxable income through tax planning activities which can be legal or illegal or may lie in between. The effect of religion and religious norms has been largely neglected in organization studies, due to the belief that religion and business do not interfere. However, management scholars have recently started challenging this assumption, and argue that religion and business are interconnected and therefore, religion may help us in understanding firm behaviour. The demonstrated ability and willingness of family firms to pursue non-economic goals increases the probability that religiosity, when present in the family, will spill over into the firm. Investigating this seems to be especially important in an Islamic context, because Islam stresses the importance of transparency in business dealings and moral responsibility. In addition, envy and extravagance are forbidden whereas trust and honesty are crucial. Family firms that value these religious norms more than others, can be expected to be less engaged in tax aggressive behaviour. Closing this gap is important to better understand to what extent, but also under what conditions and how, religious norms and values affect tax aggressive behaviour.
Date:1 Jul 2019 →  31 Dec 2022
Keywords:(Financial) reporting, Family firms
Disciplines:Business economics, Financial economics, Accounting and auditing, Business management