实际控制人的境外居留权会使民营企业更多避税吗?

Do Controlling Persons' Foreign Residency Rights Induce Private Firms to Avoid More Taxes?

近年来,包括民营企业家在内的社会知名人士取得境外居留权的行为成为媒体和公众热议的话题,其中的一个焦点问题是:境外居留权是否会为企业的避税行为创造便利?针对这一现实问题,文章分析了中国民营上市公司实际控制人的境外居留权对企业税收决策的影响。理论分析表明:一方面,境外居留权可能给企业实际控制人从事不合法或不合规的行为提供了"保护伞",这会使得该类企业更有可能从事避税活动;另一方面,实际控制人具有境外居留权的企业也有可能面临更严格的监管,其税收规避活动更易被发现,从而也有可能会更少地从事避税活动。实证结果显示,当民营上市公司的实际控制人拥有境外居留权时,企业的避税程度显著降低了。这支持了第二种理论路径的预期。

In recent years,various social celebrities,including many well-known private entrepreneurs,have obtained foreign residency rights.Such a phenomenon has been in the media spotlight and has captured the attention from the public.Do foreign residency rights provide convenience for firm tax avoidance？In response to this phenomenon,this paper analyzes the effect of controlling persons’ foreign residency rights on tax decisions in private listed companies.Theoretical analysis shows that,on one hand,foreign residency rights may provide a protective＂umbrella＂for illegal or non-compliant behavior of corporate controlling persons,which could lead to a higher incidence of tax avoidance in firms whose controlling persons have foreign residency rights;on the other hand,such firms may be subject to tighter regulation that increases the risk of discovering tax avoidance,so these firms may ultimately engage in less corporate tax avoidance.Empirical study finds that private listed companies whose controlling persons have foreign residency rights are associated with lower degree of tax avoidance,confirming the expectation of the second hypothesis.Further analysis indicates that the negative association between foreign residency rights and tax avoidance significantly weakens in listed companies whose controlling persons have higher cash flow rights.This result is consistent with that controlling persons with higher cash flow rights will obtain greater proportion of tax benefits,thus the firms have stronger motivation for tax avoidance.It extends the academic literature of the relationship between corporate executives（board characteristics）and corporate decision-making,and also has important implications for relevant tax collection activities of tax departments.