How Does Corporate Governance Affect Tax Aggressiveness? Evidence from Finland

Using data from Finnish private firms, we examine the association between corporate governance and tax aggression in a high tax alignment environment. We find evidence of a non-linear relationship between CEO ownership and tax aggressiveness. Our results indicate that organisations with low levels of CEO ownership are more tax aggressive than those with high levels of CEO ownership when comparing firms with an average degree of CEO ownership. Furthermore, firms with CEO duality are less tax aggressive. This study provides a new perspective on effective corporate governance by suggesting that effective corporate governance systems in private firms lead to more tax aggressiveness. This could be attributed to the fact that cash flow, including tax savings, is critical to survival for private firms, and not even board diversity or CEO gender diminish this effect