Corporate tax avoidance and geographic distance: Evidence from China

Abstract

We examine the relationship between geographic distance and corporate tax avoidance in China and find that the closer a firm is to the tax bureau, the less it is likely to avoid tax. This is in sharp contrast to the findings documented by Kubick et al. for U.S. public firms. We argue that this is the result of the local tax bureau collecting more information about the firm instead of the firm collecting more information about tax audits as suggested by Kubick et al. We attribute the different results to the tax system difference between China and the United States, as it is easier for the tax officials in China to collect information about the tax-paying firms. Cross-sectional analyses considering firm age or functional proximity provide further corroborating evidence.