会计师事务所纳税信用评级与审计质量

Audit Firms'Tax Credit Ratings and Audit Quality

本文以2016-2021年沪深A股上市公司为样本,考察了会计师事务所纳税信用评级与审计质量之间的关系。研究发现,纳税信用评级越高,审计质量越高,即在纳税方面“严以律己”的事务所在审计执业过程中也更“勤勉尽责”,与行为一致性理论预期一致。机制检验表明,较高纳税信用评级的事务所人力资源配置效率更高,有着更好的客户-审计师匹配度,审计投入更大,对审计风险的识别和应对更全面细致。进一步研究发现,在事务所(或分部)规模较小、被审计客户为非国企或内部控制较弱的情况下,纳税信用评级与审计质量的正向关联更显著。本文丰富了纳税信用评级经济后果和审计质量影响因素的相关文献,对资本市场投资者识别审计质量差异、监管者提高审计监督能力具有重要启示。

Using a sample of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2016 to 2021,this paper examines the relationship between audit firms'tax credit ratings and audit quality.It is found that the higher the audit firm's tax credit rating,the higher the audit quality,i.e.,audit firms who act better in tax payment are more responsible in their audit practice,which is consistent with the expectations of behavioral consistency theory.Additional tests show that audit firms with higher tax credit rating have more efficient human resource allocation,higher audit investment and more detailed risk identification and audit procedure.Further,the positive relation between tax credit rating and audit quality is more pronounced for small audit firms/offices,for non-SOEs or weak internal control clients.This research contributes to the existing literature on the economic consequences of tax credit ratings and the factors influencing audit quality,and provides capital market investors with insights in identifying differences in audit quality,and regulators with inspiration on enhancing their audit oversight capabilities.