Pengaruh Intensitas Modal, Leverage, dan CSR terhadap Agresivitas Pajak Perusahaan Manufaktur di BEI

This study examines the effect of capital intensity, leverage, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the tax aggressiveness of manufacturing firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The study is motivated by the declining tax contribution of the manufacturing sector and by inconsistent findings in prior research. Tax aggressiveness is proxied by the cash effective tax rate (CETR), where a lower CETR indicates more aggressive tax behaviour. Using purposive sampling, the study analyses 93 firms, yielding 465 firm-year observations over the 2019–2024 period. The data are analysed using panel data regression; the Chow and Hausman tests indicate that the fixed effect model (FEM) is the most appropriate estimator. The results show that capital intensity and CSR have no significant effect on CETR; therefore, neither variable is associated with tax aggressiveness. Leverage has a significant negative effect on CETR (β = −0.174; p = 0.018), indicating that higher leverage is associated with a lower cash effective tax rate and thus with higher tax aggressiveness. This finding contradicts the hypothesised negative relationship. The deductibility of interest expense offers a plausible theoretical explanation, although this mechanism is not tested directly in the model. Practically, the results suggest that tax authorities should consider debt-financing structures in risk-based tax supervision and that investors should interpret the low effective tax rates of highly leveraged firms with caution. Future research is encouraged to test the interest tax-shield mechanism directly and to employ alternative proxies of tax aggressiveness.