The Choice of Accounting Standards under Competing Tax and External Reporting Preferences: Evidence from Intangible Asset Reporting in Small Private Firms
研究了瑞典小私营企业在2014年面临两种会计准则选择时，如何权衡税收与外部报告偏好，并揭示了无形资产报告的重要性，对准则制定者和监管者有参考价值。
In 2014, all Swedish small private firms (legal entities) were required to choose between an external reporting-oriented standard (K3) based on IFRS for SMEs (2009 version) and a simplified reporting standard designed to minimize tax-accounting differences (K2). Using this shock to the reporting environment, we study firms’ reporting choices in the context of competing tax and external reporting preferences. We provide direct evidence of the role these preferences play in firm-level reporting and, in several ways, highlight the importance for such firms to be able to report internally generated intangible assets. Our results also suggest that these reporting choices are oriented towards stakeholders other than credit providers. We present important insights for standard setters and regulators reviewing the reporting requirements applicable to private firms.