R&D Expense Super-deduction Strengthened And Enterprise Accrued Earnings Management

The report of the 20th National Congress emphasized that it is necessary to adhere to science and technology as the primary productive force,talents as the primary resource,and innovation as the primary driving force,deeply promote the innovation-driven development strategy,improve the scientific and technological innovation system,and unswervingly put innovation in the core position of China’s modernization construction.In order to encourage enterprises to actively innovate,the government has introduced a series of preferential tax policies,of which the R&D expense super-deduction policy is the one with the largest preferential treatment and the widest audience.Since its implementation in 1996,this policy has played an important role in promoting technological innovation of enterprises,promoting the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure,and building an innovative country.However,will the increasing rate of super-deductions,resulting in considerable tax deductions,induce greater management of accrued surpluses?Therefore,this paper takes the high-tech enterprises listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares as the research sample,selects the data of 2012-2021 for ten consecutive years,analyzes the relationship between the strengthening of the R&D expense super-deduction policy and the management of accrued earnings of enterprises from the theoretical and empirical levels,and further discusses the regulating role of product market competition and property rights in the above relationship,and the mediating role played by the efficiency of R&D investment in the above relationship.The results show that the strengthening of R&D expense super-deduction is significantly positively correlated with the degree of accrued earnings management of enterprises.The fiercer the competition in the product market,the stronger the significance of the above basic relationship;Compared with non-state-owned enterprises,the above basic relationship between state-owned enterprises is more significant;The efficiency of R&D investment plays a mediating role between the strengthening of super-deductions and the management of accrued earnings.Finally,the robustness test was carried out by placebo test,surrogate variable measurement method,and propensity score matching method,and the conclusion was still valid.To this end,this paper puts forward the following policy recommendations:First,relevant departments should further strengthen the supervision of enterprises enjoying the super-deduction policy for R&D expenses,and guard against the behavior of enterprises using super-deduction tax incentives to manage accrued surpluses.First,it is necessary to strengthen the audit requirements and ensure the quality of the audit;Second,it is necessary to improve relevant supporting tax supervision methods and strengthen tax supervision;Third,it is necessary to increase the punishment of enterprises for violations of accrued surplus management and increase the cost of violations.Second,in the face of fierce market competition,enterprises should be vigilant against the negative agency cost effect of product market competition,attach importance to the agency problem,further improve the internal control system,strengthen the supervision of enterprise management,reduce its opportunistic behavior of earnings management,and set up more reasonable incentive measures to make the interests of management and shareholders consistent to the greatest extent possible and maximize corporate value.Third,relevant departments should comprehensively consider formulating relevant policies for enterprises of different natures,improve the efficiency of policy implementation,increase the punishment for illegal acts,regulate the development of the market,ensure fair market competition,and orderly economic development.The research conclusions of this paper have certain enlightenment significance for ensuring the implementation effect of the R&D expense super-deduction policy,reducing the opportunistic behavior of enterprise accrued earnings management,promoting the good and rapid development of high-tech enterprises,and improving the quality of accounting surplus.