Board Independence and the Relation between Ownership Structure and the Tax Gap

This study is aimed to investigate the effect of the board of director's independence on the relation between ownership structure and the tax gap. The sample includes 62 firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period from 2007-2013. To test the hypothesis, regression analysis method based on panel data is used. Independent variables are ownership structure including family ownership and corporate ownership and the dependent variable is tax gap which is equal to the difference between determined tax and declared tax. Also the adjusting variable is the board of directors' independence which is equal to the nonexecutive members to the total members ratio of the board of directors. The control variables are firms size, financial leverage and asset return. The findings show that there is a negative significant relation between family ownership and tax gap and a positive significant relation between corporate ownership and tax gap and also the board of directors' independence has no moderating effect on the relations