Information Sharing between Tax and Statutory Auditors: Implications for Tax Audit Efficiency

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Kay Blaufus
  • Jens Robert Schöndube
  • Stefan Wielenberg
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)545-568
Seitenumfang24
FachzeitschriftEuropean accounting review
Jahrgang33
Ausgabenummer2
Frühes Online-Datum29 Aug. 2022
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2024

Abstract

We examine whether tax audits become more efficient if tax auditors have access to information about statutory audit adjustments. To this end, we extend the standard tax compliance game by including a statutory auditor and analyze the strategic interactions among a firm issuing financial and tax reports, a statutory auditor, and a tax auditor. We show that granting the tax auditor access to information on statutory audit adjustments can, in some cases, increase tax revenues while simultaneously decreasing tax audit frequency. Thus, more information sharing between statutory and tax auditors could be a policy instrument to combat tax evasion and increase tax audit efficiency. However, the tax audit efficiency enhancing effect comes at the cost of a reduction in financial statement quality as the probability of overstated financial assets increases. Moreover, depending on the importance of firms' financial statement valuation, the additional information may also reduce tax revenues. The regulator must, therefore, carefully weigh the potential efficiency gains from information sharing on statutory audit adjustments that are derived in this study against the potential efficiency losses.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

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Information Sharing between Tax and Statutory Auditors: Implications for Tax Audit Efficiency. / Blaufus, Kay; Schöndube, Jens Robert; Wielenberg, Stefan.
in: European accounting review, Jahrgang 33, Nr. 2, 2024, S. 545-568.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Blaufus K, Schöndube JR, Wielenberg S. Information Sharing between Tax and Statutory Auditors: Implications for Tax Audit Efficiency. European accounting review. 2024;33(2):545-568. Epub 2022 Aug 29. doi: 10.1080/09638180.2022.2108094
Blaufus, Kay ; Schöndube, Jens Robert ; Wielenberg, Stefan. / Information Sharing between Tax and Statutory Auditors : Implications for Tax Audit Efficiency. in: European accounting review. 2024 ; Jahrgang 33, Nr. 2. S. 545-568.
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