Relationship between Overall Debt, Taxation and the Basel Index in Major Financial Institutions in Brazil

Abstract

Research regarding the capital structure of banks points to the regulatory minimum capital requirement established by the Basel agreements as its main determinant. For other kinds of enterprise, capital structure is pointed to by several theories as a tax planning alternative, since the use of debt allows tax savings. Given the debt characteristics of banks, which prevent the deduction of interest in the calculation of income taxes and thus prevent tax savings through debt, the use of capital structure for tax planning by financial institutions is less evident. In view of this, in addition to contributing to research on the determinants of the capital structure of banks, this study has the objective of examining the relationship between overall debt, taxation and the BIS ratio of financial institutions located in Brazil. The initial sample consisted of the 50 largest banks, identified by the criterion of net income in 2012; but due to lack of availability of information and adjustments made to assure the efficacy of the study, the final sample was made up of 34 financial institutions. The baseline for analysis was the mean values of data from 2010 to 2012 and data were analyzed using correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. No relationship was found between taxation and banks' overall indebtedness. However, influence of the regulatory minimum capital requirement on the capital structure of financial institutions was observed.