본 연구는 법인세율의 인하가 기업의 접대비지출 의사결정에 미칠 수 있는 영향을 모형을 통해 이론적으로 분석하고, 모 형에서 도출된 이론적 결과를 실증적으로 분석하였다. 먼저 이론분석결과에 의하면, 기업이익을 극대화하는 최적접대비지 출액이 세법에 규정된 손금산입 한도에 미달하는 기업은 세율의 변화가 접대비지출액에 아무런 영향을 미치지 않는다 (즉, 조세중립성이 성립됨). 반면, 최적접대비지출액이 세법상 손금산입한도를 초과하는 기업은 세율 변화에 따라 최적접 대비지출액이 영향을 받는데(즉, 조세중립성이 성립되지 않음), 특히 세율이 인하되면 한도초과 접대비의 손금불산입으로 인한 불이익이 줄어들어 조세비용이 감소하므로 최적접대비지출액은 증가한다. 본 연구는 이러한 이론적 결과를 실증적으 로 검증하기 위해 한도초과기업과 한도미달기업 등 두 유형의 기업에 대해 세율이 인하된 2002년 및 2005년과 그 직전 연도인 2001년 및 2004년을 대상으로 접대비지출액의 변동을 분석하였다. 주요 실증분석 결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 한도초과기업은 세율인하연도에서 직전연도에 비해 접대비지출액이 더 증가하여 이론적 분석결과와 일치하였다. 반 면, 한도미달기업의 경우 2002년의 접대비지출액은 2001년과 비교하여 유의적인 변화가 없음으로써 이론적 결과와 일치 하였으나, 2005년의 접대비지출액은 2004년에 비해 유의적으로 늘어남으로써 이론적 결과와는 다른 현상이 관찰되었다. 본 연구는 이와 같은 한도미달기업의 2005년도 접대비 증가현상을 기업의사결정의 전략적 측면에서 설명하였다. 둘째, 한도초과기업의 경우 세율인하기간에 매출액 성장성이 높은 기업에서 접대비지출액이 더 많았던 것이 관찰되었다. 이러한 현상은 세율이 1% 포인트 하락한 2002년과 2% 포인트 하락한 2005년도 각각에서도 매우 강하게 관찰됨으로써 세율인 하의 크기와도 상관이 없었다. 이와는 대조적으로, 한도미달기업에 대해서는 일관된 실증결과를 얻지 못하였다. 즉, 2002년에 한도미달기업은 한도초과기업처럼 매출액 성장성이 높은 기업에서 접대비증가율도 높았던 경향을 보였지만, 2005년에는 오히려 매출액 성장성이 낮은 기업에서 접대비증가율이 더 높았다. 결과적으로, 세율인하에 대응한 접대비 의사결정은 한도초과기업에서 더 일관되게 관찰된 셈인데, 이는 한도미달기업의 경우 최적접대비가 세율과 중립적이지만, 한도초과기업의 최적접대비는 세율에 영향을 받는다는 이론적 결과를 간접적으로 지지하는 것으로 해석할 수 있다.
This study provides a model explaining how tax rate changes could affect corporate decisions on the spending of entertainment expenditures(EE). This study further test empirically the theoretical results drawn from analyzing the model. In the theoretical analysis, it is shown that the optimal EE of the firms for which its dollar amount falls below the deductible ceiling stipulated in the tax law(low-EE firms, henceforth) is determined independently of tax rates(in other words, the optimal EE of such firms is neutral to tax rates), but that the optimal EE of the firms for which its amount exceeds the ceiling (high-EE firms, henceforth) is dependent upon tax rates(that is, the optimal EE of such firms are not tax-neutral). In particular, a reduction in tax rate results in an increase in the optimal EE because a tax rate reduction lowers the tax disfavor of the EE that exceeds the deductible ceiling. To empirically test these theoretical results, this study analyzes the EE of the years in which tax rates fell, 2002 and 2005, as compared to those of the prior years, 2001 and 2004 for both low-EE firms and high-EE firms. The major empirical results found in this study are as follows. First, consistent with the theoretical prediction, high-EE firms increase the EE in the years of tax rate reductions relative to the previous years. On the other hand, while in 2002 low-EE firms do not increase the EE relative to 2001, they increase the spending of the EE in 2005 relative to 2004. This study provides one potential reason for the low-EE firms’ increase in the EE in 2005. When tax rates decline, it is optimal for high-EE firms to expand the spending of their EE because the tax cost of the EE declines (in particular, the tax cost of the EE in excess of the deductible ceiling). Expanding the EE would, in turn, enhance their competitiveness, resulting in an increase in their market share. This means that the market share of low-EE firms in the same industry would decline. Because it would not be optimal for low-EE firms to acquiesce to a decline in their market share, they would have to increase the spending of the EE as their competitors do. If this is the case, an increase in the high-EE firms’ spending of the EE triggered by tax rate reductions would give rise to an increase in low-EE firms’ spending. While the 2005 increase in low-EE firms’ spending could be explained by the competitive nature of the corporate decisions, the null effect in the 2002 cannot. However, it is likely that because the magnitude of the tax rate fall of 2005 is twice as large as that of 2002, high-EE firms’ spending would be much greater in 2005 than in 2002. So the possibility may have been escalated in 2005 that high-EE firm's spending of more EE stimulates low-EE firms to mimic them. The second major empirical result is that high-EE firms with higher sales growth rates tend to increase the EE spending to a greater extent in the years of tax rate reductions than those with low sales growth rates. This empirical phenomenon is clearly observed in each of the two years of tax rate reductions, seemingly independent of the magnitude of the tax rate reduction. In contrast, a similar phenomenon is not observed consistently for low-EE firms. In 2002, low-EE firms having high sales growth rates exhibit the tendency to increase the EE to a greater extent, but on the contrary, firms with low sales growth rates show the tendency to increase the spending more in 2005. In sum, corporate decisions with respect to the optimal EE in response to tax rate reductions seem more consistent in the case of high-EE firms than in the case of low-EE firms. This supports indirectly the theoretical finding that the optimal EE of low-EE firms is neutral to tax rates, while the high-EE firms’ optimal EE varies with tax rates. In summary, this study has theoretically demonstrated that when tax rates fall, corporate incentives to adjust the optimal EE differ, depending on whether it is a high-EE or a low-EE firm. It has also empirically shown that the EE spending of high-EE firms rises as tax rates go down. To the extent that the rise of the EE contributes to an increase in the value of the spending firms, this study has documented the effectiveness of such tax policies as decreases in tax rates. Further, this study also reports that an increase in the EE varies with firms’ sales growth rates, implying that the marginal revenue of the EE spending may also vary with firm and/or industry characteristics. It may thus be more desirable to adopt a policy of differing ways of determining the deductible ceiling of the EE in accordance with the productivity of the EE spending rather than the uniform policy we currently have. Besides such policy implications, this study contributes to the existing EE-related literature in that it has rigorously modelled corporate decisions on the optimal EE spending, and thus expand the understanding of the corporate decision making.