The Role of Family Ownership in Moderating Relationship Between Related Party Transactions and Tax Avoidance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24843/EJA.2025.v35.i08.p12Keywords:
Tax Avoidance; Related Party Transactions; Family OwnershipAbstract
This study examines the relationship between related party transactions (RPT) and tax avoidance in Indonesia, considering tighter RPT tax regulations and the prevalence of family-owned firms. It also explores the moderating role of family ownership using agency theory and socioemotional wealth (SEW) as the theoretical basis. The study uses four tax avoidance proxies—GAAP ETR, Current ETR, Cash ETR, and BTD—to analyze RPT in sales and purchases. Regression analysis on IDX-listed firms from 2016 to 2019 shows a positive relationship between RPT and tax avoidance (using GAAP ETR), with family ownership weakening the effect. However, sensitivity tests with alternative proxies for family ownership show the opposite result. These findings provide insights into the impact of RPT and family ownership on corporate tax behavior in Indonesia.
References
Ali, A., Chen, T.-Y., & Radhakrishnan, S. (2006). Corporate Disclosures by Family Firms. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.897817
Amidu, M., Coffie, W., & Acquah, P. (2019). Transfer pricing, earnings management and tax avoidance of firms in Ghana. Journal of Financial Crime, 26(1), 235–259. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-10-2017-0091
Aryotama, P., & Firmansyah, A. (2020). The Association Between Related Party Transaction And Tax Avoidance In Indonesia. AFEBI Accounting Review, 4(02), 117. https://doi.org/10.47312/aar.v4i02.243
Austin, C. R., & Wilson, R. J. (2017). Austin, C. R., & Wilson, R. J. (2017). An examination of reputational costs and tax avoidance: Evidence from firms with valuable consumer brands. The Journal of the American Taxation Association, 39(1), 67-93. The Journal of the American Taxation Association, 39(1), 67–93.
Azizah, N. (2016). The Effect of Related Party Transaction, Leverage, Commissioners and Directors Compensation on Tax Aggressiveness. Accounting Anaysis Journal, AAJ 5 (4). http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/aaj
Berrone, P., Cruz, C., & Gomez, M. L. (2012). Socioemotional wealth in family firms: Theoretical dimensions, assessment approaches, and agenda for future research. Fam Bus Rev, 25(3), 258–279.
Bhuiyan, Md. B. U., & Roudaki, J. (2018). Related party transactions and finance company failure: New Zealand evidence. Pacific Accounting Review, 30(2), 199–221. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAR-11-2016-0098
Chan. (2016). Tax avoidance and tunneling: Empirical analysis from the agency perspective. Journal of International Accounting Research, 15((3)), 49–66. https://doi.org/10.2308/jiar-51345
Chang, S. J., & Hong, J. (2000). Economic performance of group-affiliated companies in korea: Intragroup resources sharing and internal business transaction. Academy of Management Journal, 43(3), 429–434.
Chen, S., Chen, X., Cheng, Q., & Shevlin, T. (2010). Are family firms more tax aggressive than non-family firms? Journal of Financial Economics.
Col, B. (2017). Agency Costs of Moving to Tax Havens: Evidence from Cross‐border Merger Premia. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 25(4), 271–288. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12177
Dyer, W. G., & Whetten, D. A. (2006). Family Firms and Social Responsibility: Preliminary Evidence from the S&P 500. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 30(6), 785–802. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2006.00151.x
Farkhah, E., Hasanudin, A. I., & Lestari, T. (2022). Transfer Pricing Policy: The Role of Taxes, Incentive Tunneling and Bonus Mechanism. Journal of Applied Business, Taxation and Economics Research (JABTER), 1(6), 553–565.
Gaaya, S., Lakhal, N., & Lakhal, F. (2017). Does family ownership reduce corporate tax avoidance? The moderating effect of audit quality. Managerial Auditing Journal, 32(7), 731–744. https://doi.org/10.1108/MAJ-02-2017-1530
Gebhart, M. S. (2017). Measuring Corporate Tax Avoidance – An Analysis of Different Measures. Junior Management Science, 43-60 Seiten. https://doi.org/10.5282/JUMS/V2I2PP43-60
Giovannini, R. (2010). Corporate governance, family ownership and performance. Journal of Management & Governance, 14(2), 145–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-009-9093-x
Gomez, M. L., Haynes, K., Nunas, N. M., Jacobson, K., & Moyana, F. J. (2007). Gomez-Mejia L, Haynes K, Nunez-Nickel M, Jacobson K, Moyano-Fuentes J (2007) Socioemotional wealth and business risks in family-controlled firms: Evidence from Spanish olive mills. Adm Sci Q 52:106–137. Adm Sci Q, 52, 106–137.
Gramlich, J. D., Limpaphayom, P., & Ghon Rhee, S. (2004). Taxes, keiretsu affiliation, and income shifting. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 37(2), 203–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2003.10.001
Hanlon, M., & Heitzman, S. (2010). A review of tax research. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50(2–3), 127–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.09.002
Hoerl, A. E., & Kennard, R. W. (1970). Ridge Regression: Biased Estimation for Nonorthogonal Problems. Technometrics, 12(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/00401706.1970.10488634
Jacob, .J. (1995). Taxes and transfer pricing: Income shifting and the volume of intra-firm transfers. Northwestern University.
Jensen, M. C. (1976). Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 10(V.3 No 4), 305–360.
Khan, M., Srinivasan, S., & Tan, L. (2016). Institutional ownership and corporate tax avoidance: New evidence. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2779809
Kuo, C.-S. (2022). Family firms, tax avoidance, and socioemotional wealth: Evidence from tax reform in Taiwan. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 58(4), 1535–1572. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11156-021-01029-5
Lanis, R., & Richardson, G. (2011). The effect of board of director composition on corporate tax aggressiveness. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 30(1), 50–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2010.09.003
Lin, S., Tong, N., & Tucker, A. L. (2014). Corporate tax aggression and debt. Journal of Banking & Finance, 40, 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.11.035
Macaulay, S. (1963). Non-Contractual Relations in Business: A Preliminary Study. American Sociological Review, 28(1), 55–67.
Marchini, P. L., Andrei, P., & Medioli, A. (2019). Related party transactions disclosure and procedures: A critical analysis in business groups. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 19(6), 1253–1273. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-08-2018-0281
Martinez, A. ,. L. and Giliard, C. R. (2014). Family firms and tax aggressiveness in Brazil. Business Research, 7, 129–136.
Mohammed, N. H. (2019). Related Party Transactions, Family Firms and Firm Performance Empirical Evidence From Turkey. Accounting Anaysis Journal, 8((3)), 179–183. https://doi.org/DOI 10.15294/aaj.v8i3.36665
Nguyen, R. (2022). Related party transactions, state ownership and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from Vietnam. Australian Tax Forum, 37(3), 327–356. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.251179731777978
Oktaviani, M., Wulandari, S., & Sunarto. (2023). Multinational Corporate Tax Avoidance in Indonesia. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8(2), e01549. https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i2.1549
Panda, B., & Leepsa, N. M. (2017). Agency theory: Review of Theory and Evidence on Problems and Perspectives. Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, 10(1), 74–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974686217701467
Pozzoli, M., & Venuti, M. (2014). Related Party Transactions and Financial Performance: Is There a Correlation? Empirical Evidence from Italian Listed Companies. Open Journal of Accounting, 03(01), 28–37. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojacct.2014.31004
Rakayana, W., Sudarma, M., & Rosidi, R. (2021). Structure of company ownership and tax avoidance in Indonesia. International Research Journal of Management, IT and Social Sciences, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.21744/irjmis.v8n3.1696
Razzak, M. R., & Jassem, S. (2019). Socioemotional wealth and performance in private family firms: The mediation effect of family commitment. Journal of Family Business Management, 9(4), 468–496. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFBM-05-2019-0035
Richardson, G., Taylor, G., & Lanis, R. (2015). The impact of financial distress on corporate tax avoidance spanning the global financial crisis: Evidence from Australia. Economic Modelling, 44, 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.09.015
Ryngaert, M. D., & Thomas, S. E. (2007). Related Party Transactions: Their Origins and Wealth Effects. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.970689
Santoso, H. (2023). Good corporate governance effectiveness mechanism, special relationship transactions, and leverage on tax aggressiveness. Journal of Social Research, 2(9), 3017–3030. https://doi.org/10.55324/josr.v2i9.1344
Sari, D. K., & Martani, D. (2010). Ownership Characteristics, Corporate Governance, and Tax Aggressiveness. The 3rd International Accounting Conference & The 2nd Doctoral Colloquium, Bali.
Sari, D. K., Utama, S., & Rossieta, H. (2017). Tax avoidance, related party transactions, corporate governance and the corporate cash dividend policy. Journal of Indonesian Economy and Business: JIEB., 32(3), 190–208.
Slemrod, J. (2004). The Economics of Corporate Tax Selfishness. National Tax Journal, LVII(4), 877–899.
Steijvers, T., & Niskanen, M. (2014). Tax aggressiveness in private family firms: An agency perspective. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(4), 347–357.
Supatmi, S., & Primadani, I. (2021). Effect of blockholder ownership on the related party transactions to the financial industries. International Journal of Social Science and Business, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.23887/ijssb.v5i2.35605
Utama, S. tama, C. A. ,. &. Yuniasih, R. (2010). Related party transaction-efficient or abusive: Indonesia evidence. Asia Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance, 1((1)), 77–102.
Vivaldi, M. (2022). Pengaruh Transaksi Pihak-Pihak Berelasi terhadap Penghindaran Pajak (Tax Avoidance) pada perusahaan Manufaktur Sektor Industri pada perusahaan Barang Konsumsi yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Selama Periode 2014-2020 P. Universitas Pakuan.
Wang, H.-D., Cho, C.-C., & Lin, C.-J. (2019). Related party transactions, business relatedness, and firm performance. Journal of Business Research, 101, 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.066
Wulandari, T. R., Setiawan, D., & Widagdo, A. K. (2022). Related Party Transactions and Firm Value in Indonesia: Opportunistic vs. Efficient Transactions. Risks, 10(11), 210. https://doi.org/10.3390/risks10110210
Yorke, S. M., Amidu, M., & Agyemin-Boateng, C. (2016). The effects of earnings management and corporate tax avoidance on firm value. International Journal of Management Practice, 9(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMP.2016.076741
Zellweger, T. M., & Nason, R. S. (2008). A stakeholder perspective on family firm performance. Family Bussiness Review, 21(3), 203–216.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 E-Jurnal Akuntansi

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.









