This study investigates whether firms with aggressive tax planning strategies have less readable financial reports. In theory, tax-planning increases firm value through tax savings but can lead to a discount if applied too aggressively. Therefore, managers have an incentive to obfuscate their...

Using an international sample of firms from 25 countries and a country-level index for societal trust, we document that societal trust is negatively associated with tax avoidance, even after controlling for other institutional determinants such as home country legal institutions and tax system...