INFLUENCE OF THE LEVEL OF TAX AGGRESSIVENESS ON THE PROFITABILITY OF PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES OF INDUSTRIAL GOODS LISTED ON B3

Abstract

Tax aggressiveness represents the most advantageous legal method of taxation chosen by taxpayers, after exploring the ambiguities and uncertainties contained in the tax legislation. In this sense, this study aims to verify the influence of the tax aggressiveness level on the profitability of publicly traded companies of industrial goods listed on B3 (Brazilian Stock Market) in the period from 2010 to 2019. The information was collected in the Economatica@ database and 52 companies were analyzed by means of multiple and quantile regressions. The results pointed out, based on the mean functions of the MQO method, that the level of tax aggressiveness does not influence the profitability. However, when considering the conditional quantile functions of the MEA method, the GAAP ETR starts to present statistical significance and negative coefficient as expected for the Q50 and Q75 quintiles of NM (Net Margin), ROA (Return on Assets) and ROE (Return on Equity) and for the Q90 quintile of NM and ROA and then, the hypotheses H1a, H1b and H1d that the tax aggressiveness level positively influences the NM, the ROA and the ROE of the investigated companies are not rejected. Having said that, in general, it is concluded that the higher the tax aggressiveness the higher the profitability of the publicly traded companies of industrial goods listed on B3 and that, even with issues not fully resolved, the theme can be very useful for various users of accounting information, such as tax legislators, regulators, investors, company directors and academic researchers.