THE INFLUENCE OF TAXATION IN ACCOUNTING: A STUDY IN PORTUGAL

The Portuguese financial reporting has been characterized as integrating countries with a continental type of accounting system, according to which the main purpose of accounting is to be the support for determining the taxable income. This study aims at studying the influence of taxation in the accounting in Portugal. It´s intended to statistically measure this influence for the years 2009 and 2010 through a linear regression model applied to the data of 2.210 unlisted enterprises. With research three specific questions were put forward: (1) is accounting affected by fiscal regulations in Portugal? (2) is taxation the only factor that influences portuguese accounting? (3) was the degree of influence of taxation in accounting affected by the adoption of the SNC? The results obtained allowed answer to the first two questions, showing that taxation influences accounting in Portugal but does not explain it fully. The last question could not be validated conclusively, although the results indicating that the degree of influence of taxation in accounting was not significantly affected by the change of accounting standards. Existing studies which focus on this subject are scarce, there is no prior statistical knowledge. Although we believe that in the future it will make an important contribution to the understanding of the subject in question.