Sustainability Disclosure and Tax Planning: A Case of Listed Companies in Thailand Sustainability Investment Index

Abstract

The main objectives of this study were to explore the levels of sustainability disclosure and to examine the relationships between the levels of sustainability disclosure and tax planning of listed companies in the SET Thailand Sustainability (THIS) Investment Index, named SETTHSI index or SETESG index. The sample comprised 116 observations from listed companies in the index during 2020 - 2021. Sustainability disclosure data were measured using a questionnaire adapted from the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Global Report Initiative. Also, tax planning data were measured by three measures: current effective tax rates, the ratio of tax expenses and total assets, and the ratio of tax expenses to cash flow from operating activities.

            This study revealed that most listed companies in the Thailand Sustainability Investment Index had high levels of sustainability information disclosure and tended to increase sustainability information disclosure. The Resource Industry had the highest disclosure level at 0.693, but Technology Industry had the lowest sustainability disclosure level at 0.556. In addition, the governance dimension and the environment dimension were the highest and lowest disclosure levels at 0.660 and 0.596, respectively. Moreover, the results of this study provided empirical evidence that either sustainability disclosures as a whole or environmental, social, and governance dimensions were negatively correlated with tax planning. They pointed out that companies listed in Thailand Sustainability Investment Index that disclose high levels of environmental, social, and corporate governance information as a whole or by high dimensions tend to have low tax planning, demonstrating awareness of tax responsibility.