CEO characteristics and corporate tax planning evidence from US companies

This study investigates whether CEO characteristics influence tax planning in US firms during the period 1996-2009. Inspired by the upper echelon theory, we develop a new tax context and postulate our hypothesis. The results of our study reveal that the educational level and specialty of the CEO influence significantly the tax strategy used by the firm. However, we do not find significant relations between tax planning and the other variables of our study (experience, seniority, age). We contribute to the recent literature on tax planning by proposing that the CEO influence indirectly the fiscal decision-making through his exemplary attitude.