Date of Completion

Spring 5-6-2012

Thesis Advisor(s)

Amy Dunbar

Honors Major

Accounting

Disciplines

Accounting | Taxation

Abstract

Abstract: Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48 Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes (FIN 48) caused substantial change and controversy in the accounting and financial reporting for income taxes when it was released in 2006. This study utilizes a sample of public firms to examine the post-FIN 48 tax environment, focusing on tax aggressiveness. More specifically, this paper will (1) compare the tax aggressiveness of domestic and multinational firms,

(2) investigate the relationship between tax aggressiveness and multinational size, as measured by the number of foreign jurisdictions, and (3) assess the overall quality of FIN 48-related tax footnote disclosures provided by domestic and multinational firms, and consider their role in aggressive tax planning. The results suggest that multinationals are relatively more tax aggressive than domestic firms. Some evidence indicates that larger multinationals may be more tax aggressive than smaller multinationals. And lastly, the results supported a potential inverse relationship between disclosure quality and tax aggressiveness for multinational firms.

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