Firm’s Life Cycle and Tax Avoidance: Longitudinal Evidence on the Mediating Role of Financial Distress

Indarti Diah Palupi; Andreas Vernando

doi:10.12928/jreksa.v13i2.16826

Authors

Indarti Diah Palupi Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta, Indonesia
Andreas Vernando Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12928/jreksa.v13i2.16826

Keywords:

tax avoidance, life cycle, financial distress, corporate evolution, mediation effect

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of the life cycle on tax avoidance, with a particular focus on the mediating role of financial distress. It uses a sample of 9,773 firm-years and longitudinal data on firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2024. It obtains the data from the Refinitiv database. We implement three estimators: fixed-effects panel data (stepwise test), Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) (simultaneous and mediating effect tests), and the Generalized Method of Moments with instrumental variables (GMM IV) to address endogeneity. These results indicate the effect of life cycle on tax avoidance and the mediating effect of financial distress on that relationship. This effect appears in the introductory and declining firms. Conversely, growth and mature firms are associated with lower financial distress and a lower level of tax avoidance. Thus, financial distress does not act as a mediator in either stage. Our results are the subject of robustness checks. This study is one of the few that compares the direct effect of the life cycle on tax avoidance with the mediating effect of financial distress. It contributes to the literature by establishing a systematic framework for how corporate evolution can influence tax avoidance practices, both directly and mediated by financial distress.

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