Can effective tax rates mediate the effect of profitability and debts on income smoothing?

Abstract

The management of the company must be capable of providing better financial information for the users of the financial report. The users of the financial report notice the performance of the management from the financial report. The financial report provides information related to financial positions, performance, as well as the changes in financial positions that are beneficial for decision-making. Income smoothing is generally conducted by the company to see the company’s capability and show the investors or investor candidates that the company is in stable condition in generating profits for the increase of share value and giving dividends, so that the investors are attracted to invest in that company. Income smoothing has been a debatable topic, especially among practitioners and academicians. This study analyzes both the direct and indirect effects of profitability and corporate debt on income smoothing. It also examines whether tax rates mediates the effects of profitability and debt on income smoothing. The sample consists of 12 property and real estate companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2013–2017. The sample was selected using purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis tool with the WarpPls application. The results show that profitability and debt, as well as effective tax rates, affect income smoothing. The effective tax rates can mediate the relationship between profitability and debt and income smoothing.