Investigation into Family Traits Impact on Tax Non –compliance of Family Firms (Case Study of Family Firms in Tehran Province)

Tax is one of the effective factors on the decisions and strategies of companies and decision makers in small and medium-sized family firms. The theoretical foundations and empirical evidence indicate that power structures, experiences and culture of family members of these companies can be considered as factors influencing tax aggressiveness. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine the effects of power structures, experiences and family culture of family members on tax aggressiveness. The statistical population of this research is small- and medium-sized family firms in Tehran province. The data were collected by questionnaire and convenience sampling method. The results of the Hypotheses testing showed that the family ownership and management has a negative influence on the family firm’s tax aggressiveness; the family generation in charge of the firm has a positive influence on the family firm’s tax aggressiveness, the alignment of family and business values has a positive influence on the family firm’s tax aggressiveness. This study contributes to the understanding of tax behavior heterogeneities among family firms by going further than most research, considering some other more representative factors of family small and medium-sized enterprises, where the influence of characteristics of family management, family generation, and family values can be the main determinants of the firm taxation policies.