TY - UNPD A1 - Goncharov, Igor A1 - Jacob, Martin T1 - Why do countries mandate accrual accounting for tax purposes? N2 - This study investigates why countries mandate accruals in the definition of corporate taxable income. Accruals alleviate timing and matching problems in cash flows, which smoothes taxable income and thus better aligns it with underlying economic performance. These accrual properties can be desirable in the tax setting as tax authorities seek more predictable corporate tax revenues. However, they can also make tax revenues procyclical by increasing the correlation between aggregate corporate tax revenues and aggregate economic activity. We argue that accruals shape the distribution of corporate tax revenues, which leads regulators to incorporate accruals into the definition of taxable income to balance the portfolio of government revenues and expenditures. Using a sample of 26 OECD countries, we find support for several theoretically motivated factors explaining the use of accruals in tax codes. We first provide evidence that corporate tax revenues are less volatile in high accrual countries, but high accrual countries collect relatively higher (lower) tax revenues when the corporate sector grows (contracts). Critically, we then show that accruals and smoother tax revenues are favored by countries with higher levels of government spending on public services and uncertain future expenditures, while countries with procyclical other tax collections favor cash rules and lower procyclicality of corporate tax revenues. T3 - FAccT Center Working Paper Series - 03/2012 KW - Fälligkeitsbuchführung KW - Accrual accounting KW - Ertragsglättung KW - Income smoothing KW - Unternehmenssteuereinnahmen KW - Corporate tax revenue KW - Körperschaftssteuer KW - Corporate taxation KW - Bemessungsgrundlage KW - Assessment basis Y1 - 2018 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-whu/frontdoor/index/index/docId/679 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:992-opus4-6796 N1 - Published in: Journal of Accounting Research52(2014)5, pp. 1127-1163 PB - WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management CY - Vallendar ER -