The information compliance indexes. The illustrative case of income taxes

Resumen

The adoption of IASB’s standards has represented, in the EuropeanUnion, an important effort of harmonization towardsthe financial reporting comprehensiveness, reliability, relevanceand comparability. This paper seeks to highlight theimportance of Information Compliance Indexes (ICI), basedon the accounting standards, as a proxy for reporting qualityawareness. This approach is evidenced through an illustrativeexample about disclosures on deferred taxes, as requiredby IAS 12. This standard prescribes the accounting treatmentfor current taxes, deferred assets and liabilities. These issuesare usually perceived by stakeholders as indicators of companies’continuity and potential future returns. Based on non-financiallisted companies of Euronext Lisbon regulated market,with reference to the end of fiscal years 2008 and 2012, aninformation compliance index was performed, based on thataccounting standard. Then, this index was regressed with a setof performance and control indicators. Evidences have providedseveral statistical significant insights, which corroboratethe findings that information compliance and disclosure levelsdepend from several performance and control indicators.