The relationship between real activity-based earnings management and tax strategies with an emphasis on the role of agency costs

In the current research, the relationship between profit management based on real activities and tax strategies is investigated, emphasizing the role of agency costs. This research is practical in terms of its purpose, and from the point of view of correlation methodology, it is causal type (post-event). The statistical population of the research is all the companies admitted to the Tehran Stock Exchange, and using the systematic elimination sampling method, 135 companies were selected as the research sample in the 6-year period between 2013 and 2018. The method used to collect information is a library, and the relevant data for measuring the variables have been collected from the Kodal website and the financial statements of the companies. Stata software was used to test research hypotheses. The results of the research show that profit management based on real activities has an inverse relationship with the effective tax rate. However, it is directly related to the difference between accounting profit and taxable profit. The ratio of operating expenses to net sales has an inverse effect on the relationship between earnings management based on actual activities and the effective tax rate. The interaction of free cash flow and Qotubin ratio does not affect the relationship between earnings management based on real activities and effective tax rate.