The Effects of Tax Management, Deferred Tax Liabilities, and Profitability on Earnings Management Among IDX-Listed Companies in the Consumer Goods Sector for the 2020–2024 Period

Abstract

This study examines the effects of tax management, deferred tax liabilities, and profitability on earnings management among consumer goods companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) during 2020–2024. A quantitative explanatory approach was employed using secondary data obtained from annual reports published on the IDX and corporate websites. From a population of 37 firms, purposive sampling generated 22 companies, resulting in 110 firm-year observations. Earnings management was measured using discretionary accruals based on the Modified Jones Model, while tax management, deferred tax liabilities, and profitability were proxied by the Effective Tax Rate (ETR), the natural logarithm of deferred tax expense to total assets, and Net Profit Margin (NPM), respectively. Panel data regression analysis identified the Fixed Effect Model with White diagonal standard errors as the most appropriate estimator. The findings indicate that tax management has no significant effect on earnings management, deferred tax liabilities have a significant positive effect, and profitability has a significant negative effect. Simultaneously, the three independent variables significantly influence earnings management. The model explains 13.60% of the variation in earnings management, suggesting that additional firm-specific and governance-related factors also contribute to managerial reporting behavior. The findings highlight deferred tax liabilities as the most informative indicator for detecting earnings management practices among Indonesian consumer goods companies.