Corporate Tax Avoidance Under Financial Distress: The Role of Profitability and Altman–Springate Models

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of financial distress on tax avoidance with profitability as a moderation variable in industrial sector companies in Indonesia for the period 2015–2021. Financial distress is measured using two bankruptcy prediction models, namely the Altman Z-Score Model and the Springate S-Score Model, while profitability is proxied by Return on Assets (ROA). The research population is industrial sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), with samples selected using the purposive sampling method so that 53 companies were obtained with 371 observations of unbalanced panel data during seven years of observation. The data was analyzed using panel data regression and Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) with the help of the Eviews program. The results of the model selection test show that the Common Effect Model (CEM) is the most appropriate estimation model based on the Chow test, the Hausman test, and the Lagrange Multiplier test. The results of the hypothesis test show that neither the financial distress of the Altman Model nor the Springate Model have a significant effect on tax avoidance. Profitability also did not have a significant effect on tax avoidance and was not proven to moderate the relationship between financial distress and tax avoidance in both models. These findings indicate that the financial pressures experienced by companies do not necessarily encourage companies to adopt more aggressive tax avoidance practices. This study suggests that the next study consider other variables, such as leverage, company size, corporate governance, and capital intensity, to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the determinants of tax avoidance