We examine how different accounting metrics used to evaluate CEO performance for annual bonuses affect the level of corporate tax planning as well as financial reporting for income taxes. We predict and find that firms using cash flow metrics report lower GAAP and cash effective tax rates (ETR)...

We interview public company tax executives to better understand how tax authorities affect corporate tax planning. We use institutional theory, which considers how organizations achieve and maintain legitimacy, as a theoretical lens to interpret interviewees' responses. Most interviewees expect...

We use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to develop a measure of effective tax planning that is theoretically aligned with the Scholes-Wolfson paradigm and captures how efficiently firms maximize after-tax returns given their operating, investing, and financing decisions. We then (1) document the...