Recent accounting scandals and current global financial crisis have brought new demands on the whole corporate world. The call for better corporate governance is strengthening in all business areas including tax. Tax non -- compliance brings substantial risks for both tax payers and tax revenue authorities. The way how companies manage their tax risks can significantly influence their overall financial performance and reputation. The paper deals with issues of tax non -- compliance as a lack of good corporate governance practice. The main goal of the paper is to put tax into the concept of corporate governance. Moreover, the paper deals with the concept of tax risk management as a way of how tax compliance in general could be enhanced and introduces the current international practice in this field.

This thesis employs Bourdieu's theory of practice to explore small immigrant business owners' adaptation to the host country's income tax system. In doing this, the thesis applies a sociological perspective in the theorizing and study of their tax compliance behaviour. Drawing on a survey (N=101) and in-depth interviews (N=27) with Bangladeshi family business owners and their tax advisers in the UK, this thesis demonstrates that immigrant business owners' engagement with the host country's tax system is grounded in the sociocultural status they inherit from their country of origin, even though their social class positions in the new society unconsciously condition and impact on how they practise tax compliance. Findings suggest that the power relations inherent in the tax professional-taxpayer relationship act as a critical factor in the reproduction and transformation of immigrant business owners' moral disposition towards compliance with tax laws. The thesis argues that the ways small Bangladeshi family business owners think, feel and act in their approach to tax compliance is likely to differ not only from those of native business communities but also from those of other immigrant communities in the UK.

This study attempted to establish a tax risk framework (TRF) with guidelines to equip parties concerned in a business environment with the necessary tax risk management (TRM) skills and knowledge .Countries obtain a significant part of their financing from taxes. Regardless of normal risks within a business environment, there are also payable taxes to be dealt with. Existing procedures in businesses do not have a TRM-function. Control Environments in businesses do not necessarily have a TRM component. As tax is the single main contributing expense on the income statement bottom-line, it is imperative that it should be included in the risk assessments. TRM is the process of understanding, interpreting and implementing tax laws in order to mitigate tax risks. The basic definition of TRM is to apply tax laws to such an extent that the minimum amount of tax is paid, whilst adhering to the law. A TRM-framework must comply with international reporting standards and governance. Existing frameworks, guidelines and policies available on risk management do not cover the specific area of tax, which complicate the establishment of a single framework. SARS is changing its auditing approach and joining hands with taxpayers, trying to determine their ways in managing tax risks. Grey areas in legislation cause loopholes and misinterpretations – leading to incorrect calculations, risks and incorrect amounts of taxes being paid. More companies in South Africa expand their business activities to Africa from which export/import tax issues arise. A proper TRM framework will enable persons to estimate risks the moment they make a new deal. This will save a great deal of time and money. AFRIKAANS : Die doel van hierdie voorlegging is om ‘n raamwerk vir belastingrisiko met riglyne aan betrokke partye in besighede voor te stel. Dit sal hulle toerus met die nodige vaardighede om belastingrisiko’s te identifiseer en te hanteer. Lande se enkele grootste bron van finansiering is vanuit belasting. Afgesien van normale risiko’s in `n besigheid is daar ook die kwessie van betaalbare belasting wat bestuur moet word waarvoor huidige besigheidstelsels nie voorsiening maak nie. Vanweë die feit dat belasting die enkele grootste uitgawe op die inkomstestaat is, is dit van kardinale belang dat dit deel vorm van die risiko assesserings proses in besigheid. Belastingrisikobestuur behels die begrip, interpretasie en implementering van belastingwette om risiko’s te verminder. Die minimum belasting moet betaal word, maar belastingwetgewing moet steeds nagekom word. Hierdie raamwerk vir belastingrisikobestuur moet egter steeds aan internasionale verslagdoening standaarde voldoen ten einde finansiële inligting aan te meld en te reguleer deur middel van goeie korporatiewe beheer. Bestaande raamwerke, riglyne en beleide rakende risikobestuur maak nie spesifiek vir belastingrisiko’s voorsiening nie wat die daarstel van ‘n afsonderlike belastingraamwerk bemoeilik. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Inkomste Diens is besig om die benadering van oudits te hersien en ‘n nouer verwantskap met belastingbetalers te sluit ten einde hul bestuur van belastingrisiko’s te bepaal. Grys areas in wetgewing veroorsaak skuiwergate en verkeerde interpretasie met foutiewe berekenings, risiko’s en betalings. Al hoe meer besighede in Suid-Afrika brei hul sakebelange na Afrikalande uit, waaruit invoer-/uitvoerkwessies rakende belasting ontstaan. ‘n Deeglike risikobestuursplan wat belastingkwessies aanspreek, sal die rolspelers instaatstel om risiko’s onmiddellik te bepaal sodra ‘n transaksie gesluit word. Sodoende kan tyd en geld bespaar word. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Taxation / unrestricted

Comment expliquer l’hétérogénéité des performances susceptible d’exister entre des entreprises concurrentes ? Telle est, selon Rumelt, Schendel et Teece (1994), l’une des questions structurante de la littérature stratégique. Au-delà des approches traditionnelles fondées, en particulier, sur les ressources et les compétences ou sur le positionnement stratégique de la firme, certains travaux ont étudié les implications, en termes de performances, des stratégies fonctionnelles. Toutefois, dans cette perspective, la contribution des stratégies fiscales des entreprises demeure une question peu étudiée. Aussi la présente thèse s’attache-t-elle à déterminer dans quelle mesure et selon quelles modalités la stratégie fiscale est susceptible d’influer sur les performances de la firme – donc de contribuer à lui conférer un avantage concurrentiel. À cet effet, celle-ci s’appuie sur une exploration hybride mobilisant des témoignages de praticiens de la fiscalité, des documents d’entreprise, la littérature professionnelle, des travaux de sociétés d’audit et de conseil, des rapports d’institutions publiques, ainsi qu’une étude approfondie de la littérature en sciences de gestion et en économie relative aux pratiques fiscales des firmes. / How to explain differences in performance among competitors? According to Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (1994), this is one of the key questions of the literature in strategic management. Beyond traditional approaches based on resources and competencies or on strategic position of the firm, some studies have examined the implications of functional strategies in terms of performance. Nevertheless, from this point of view, there is little research on the contribution of corporate tax strategies. Therefore, this thesis aims to determine the extent to which the tax strategy can influence the performance of the firm and how. It thus seeks to assess how the tax strategy can contribute to provide a competitive advantage to the firm. The thesis is based on a hybrid exploration mobilizing tax practitioners’ experiences, corporate documents, professional literature, work of auditing and consultancy companies, reports of public institutions, and a comprehensive study of literature in management and economics relative to firms’ tax behavior. First, this thesis aims to “contextualize” firms’ tax strategies. Special attention is devoted to corporates’ tax planning; because of its specific nature, it makes the various aspects of firms’ tax behavior, of their environment, and their respective developments more easily visible. Thus, it is shown that the “tax lever” is in position to substantially influence the performance of companies, with the help of current economic developments, which increase tax opportunities. However, these evolutions expose organizations to magnified and increased risks. Second, on the basis of these different analyses, this thesis aims to explore the conditions in which it is possible for a firm to improve its performance over the long term through taxation. Consequently, it examines conditions of the formulation of tax strategy and its implementation through the study of tax function management, tax risk management, and determinants of “tax investment” — which provide a measurement of possible effects of tax strategies on competition between firms.

L’objectif principal de la présente thèse est d’examiner l’impact des mécanismes internes de gouvernance sur le risque fiscal dans le contexte tunisien. Les notions de risque fiscal et de gestion du risque fiscal ont été définies dans un premier chapitre. Un deuxième chapitre présente le fondement théorique de notre étude. La théorie des jeux est présentée en premier lieu. Elle constitue un cadre propice pour analyser les comportements des deux acteurs principaux dans le cadre de cette étude, à savoir l’entreprise et l’administration fiscale, vis-à-vis du risque fiscal. La théorie partenariale de la gouvernance a été mobilisée, en deuxième lieu, afin d’examiner le rôle des mécanismes de gouvernance dans la réduction du risque fiscal. Les hypothèses issues de cette théorie supposent l’existence d’un effet négatif de l’indépendance du conseil, de la séparation des postes de directeur général et de président du conseil d’administration, de l’expertise comptable ou fiscale du comité d’audit et de l’expertise comptable ou fiscale de la fonction d’audit interne sur le risque fiscal. La méthodologie de notre recherche comporte trois étapes. D’abord, une analyse de contenu des arrêts fiscaux rendus en cassation entre les entreprises et l’administration fiscale a permis de dégager les divers types de risques fiscaux des entreprises détectés lors du contrôle et confirmés par la procédure juridictionnelle. Ensuite, l’analyse de contenu des états financiers et des rapports généraux des commissaires aux comptes des sociétés tunisiennes cotées sur une période de cinq ans a mis en évidence la divulgation d’informations sur le risque fiscal et ce conformément aux exigences réglementaires. Enfin, l’analyse de régressions logistiques a permis de mettre en évidence le rôle joué par le conseil d’administration et le conseil externe dans la gestion comptable du risque fiscal. Cette analyse a montré aussi que les acteurs qui exercent un impact sur la gestion comptable du risque fiscal différent entre les entreprises non financières et celles appartenant au secteur financier. Globalement, l’analyse de l’interaction entre le système de gouvernance et le risque fiscal a permis d’identifier les acteurs qui participent activement dans la gestion comptable du risque fiscal Ces acteurs semblent en faveur de la transparence fiscale de l’entreprise à l’égard des actionnaires et de l’administration fiscale. Cette thèse s’insère ainsi pleinement dans la problématique plus générale de la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise. / The main objective of this thesis is to examine the impact of internal governance mechanisms on tax risk in the Tunisian context. The concepts of tax risk and tax risk management were defined in the first chapter. The second chapter presented the theoretical framework of our study. In fact, game theory provides a suitable framework for analyzing the behavior of the two main actors in the context of this study, firms and tax authority, vis-à-vis the tax risk. Governance stakeholder theory was also mobilized to examine the role of governance mechanisms in reducing tax risk. Assumptions from this theory assumes the existence of a negative effect of board independence, separation of the positions of CEO and Chairman of the Board, accounting or fiscal expertise of the audit committee and accounting or tax expertise of the internal audit function on the tax risk. Our research methodology involves three steps. First, a content analysis of tax judgments between businesses and tax administration has identified various types of firm tax risks detected during the control and confirmed by judicial proceedings. Second, the content analysis of financial statements and reports of the auditors of listed Tunisian firms over a period of five years has emphasized the existence of tax risk disclosures in accordance with regulatory requirements. Finally, logistic regression analysis has highlighted the role played by the board of directors and the external advisor in the accounting management of tax risk. This analysis also showed that the actors who have an impact on the accounting management of tax risk differ between financial and non-financial firms. Overall, the analysis of the interaction between governance and tax risk identified actors who are actively involved in the accounting management of tax risk. These actors appear in favor of the tax transparency of the company in respect of stockholders and tax authorities. Thus, this thesis fits into the broader issues of corporate social responsibility.