Awareness of tax audit personnel about creative accounting techniques and the impact of professional scepticism

Accounting provides a variety of information to users of financial information. On the other hand, enterprises at various times and on various grounds refrain from accurately providing financial information that they provide to users of financial information. In the old periods, this avoidance was mostly carried out through accounting tricks . Currently, this avoidance is also carried out by the vast majority with creative accounting techniques, thanks to the conscious and professional use of some methods by individuals (taxpayers) without fully violating the law. By using creative accounting techniques, businesses can increase the value of the company, borrow at a lower cost, in higher amounts, and also pay less tax. This study, it is aimed to emphasize the importance of tax audit by providing various information about creative accounting techniques using the literature, as well as to determine the effect of professional skepticism on the ability of tax audit personnel to realize creative accounting techniques. Various information related to creative accounting techniques, tax loss, tax audit and professional skepticism was given in the study. Finally, the awareness of the tax audit personnel about creative accounting techniques was determined by the survey. In addition, the effect of professional skepticism on the ability of tax audit personnel to realize creative accounting techniques was determined by the survey. The research survey was conducted with 374 people working as tax audit personnel (Tax Chief Inspector, Tax Inspector, Deputy Tax Inspector) throughout Turkey. On the research survey primarily made about the validity of the validity and scope of language, then, the explanatory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis construct validity through creative accounting techniques that are tailored made to the expression of previously translated in another study where there is awareness of the scale, explanatory factor analysis and construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis in our study conducted in the context of professional skepticism scale was used. After the viii validity and reliability analyses, correlation analyses were performed to test the hypotheses. After the correlation analysis, structural equation modeling was used and cause-effect relationships between variables were tested, the goodness of fit was measured to determine how well the proposed model deciphered the obtained data, and the detected results were interpreted. As a result of the analyzes made, in terms of professional skepticism of the tax audit personnel in the sample; It has been determined that they have an inquiring mind, interpersonal understanding, self-confidence, ability to make decisions and suspend judgment. In addition, it has been observed that tax audit personnel, in general, are aware of creative accounting techniques. According to the results obtained, it has been determined that professional skepticism and the questioning mind, self-confidence and interpersonal understanding/analysis character traits, which are sub-dimensions, have a significant effect on the ability of tax audit personnel to realize creative accounting techniques. Keywords: Creative Accounting Techniques, Tax Audit, Tax Audit Personnel, Professional Skepticism.