Tax Legislation, Public Welfare Donation and Corporate Performance

Taking Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2005 to 2018 as a sample, and combining with the revised Corporate Income Tax Law in 2008, the relationship between tax legislation, public welfare donation and corporate performance was empirically examined by means of differences-in-differences method. The results show that public welfare donation can have a significant positive impact on corporate performance, that is, the more enterprise donations, the higher its performance level. After the revision of the donation income tax policy in 2008, the performance level of enterprises participating in donation can be further improved. Compared with enterprises in the start-up stage, the positive relationship between public welfare donation and enterprise performance is more significant in mature enterprises. The revised donation tax incentive policy in 2017 does not have a significant impact on the relationship between public welfare donation and corporate performance. The research conclusion shows that although public welfare donation is a pure "expenditure" from the perspective of accounting, but from the perspective of economic consequences, public welfare donation can play the role of "the fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose", and help enterprises to achieve accounting performance and market performance while increasing social welfare. The increase of tax incentives can reduce the donation cost of enterprises, and encourage enterprises to make more public welfare donation to improve their performance level.