Tax Governance in the Context of High-Level Openness:Import Competition and Corporate Tax Avoidance
Expanding imports is essential for promoting high-quality domestic economic development and building a global community with a shared future.However,the resulting competitive effects may influence corporate tax avoidance motives,thereby eroding the national tax base.This study,based on data from Chinese listed companies from 2000 to 2020,leverages the impact of import tariff adjustments to identify the causal relationship between import competition and corporate tax avoidance.The findings indicate that increasing import competition significantly exacerbates corporate tax avoidance.This occurs because import competition squeezes the profits of domestic enterprises,highlighting the competitive disadvantages of lagging firms and forcing them to resort to tax avoidance to compensate or survive.The tax avoidance induced by heightened import competition is not a random short-term phenomenon but is driven by the reinforcing feedback of tax avoidance capital market premium effects.When import competition continues to intensify,the digital upgrading of tax administration and the reduction of taxes and fees can enhance corporate tax compliance,though the latter serves as a palliative rather than a curative measure.This study enriches research on the external drivers of corporate tax avoidance and deepens the understanding of trade gains under China's import expansion from a tax perspective,providing decision-making references for the coordinated advancement of tax governance and high-level openness.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
