The nexus of firms characteristics and tax avoidance – do independent directors have a role? Evidence from Bangladesh

Md Shamim Hossain is an assistant professor of Accounting. He has completed his MSc at Putra Business School at the University Putra Malaysia. Shamim graduated with Honours (BBA) and MBA in AIS from the University of Dhaka. He is employed at International University of Business Agriculture and Technology as an assistant professor at IUBAT. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD at the School of Business, Swinburne University of Technology. His MSc and PhD programs are funded by the full scholarship. He is a fellow member of the ICMAB (Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh) and also a Professional VAT Consultant. He awarded the “Best Research Paper” in the 10th International Conference on Financial Criminology (ICFC 2019) organised by United International University (UIU) in association with ARI-UniversitiTeknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia during 7–8 December 2019 at UIU Campus, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He published several peer-reviewed research papers in the Scopus indexed journal and attended Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia conferences.

Md. Sobhan Ali graduated with Honours (BBA) and MBA in Accounting and Information systems from the University of Dhaka. However, the author recently has joined as a lecturer in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR), Bangladesh on 10 February 2025.

Dr Md. Zahidul Islam is an assistant professor of HRM. He completed PhD in Industrial Economics at University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing-China. Dr Zahid completed BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Dhaka. Dr Zahid started his career as a Lecturer in Management at Northern University Bangladesh (NUB) in 2008 and he has been working at Manarat International University (MIU) since 2011. Meanwhile he got international teaching experience as a faculty member of IBRA College of Technology, Sultanate of Oman in 2018. Dr Zahid has a devoted interest in research works. Most of his research articles have been published in different recognised national and international journals. Dr Zahid also entrenched his research contribution in distinguished International Conferences in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Malaysia.

Md. Safiuddin is a senior lecturer of Accounting at the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree majoring in Accounting from the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Dhaka. His research interests primarily focus on narrative reporting, human and intellectual capital reporting, corporate governance, etc. Furthermore, he is a certified professional Cost and Management Accountant and holds the status of an associate member (ACMA) at the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB).

Dr Chui Ching Ling is the Course Director-Executive and Professional, Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus). She obtained her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Newcastle, Australia. She is also a professional member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and CPA Australia. She has 14 years of audit and lecturing experience. Prior to joining Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus), she worked as a Programme Coordinator with SEGi College Sarawak and was responsible for developing and managing the Faculty of Business, IT and Accountancy. Currently, she is engaged by Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus) as a full-time lecturer, specialising in accounting and taxation.

Fung Chorng Yuan, associate professor, is the Head of School at the Faculty of Business, Design and Arts. Prior to joining Swinburne Sarawak, he has worked in both the industry and academia for over 20 years, holding senior positions. Dr Fung was admitted as an associate member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK, in 1996 and subsequently a fellow (senior) member in 2000. He is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), carrying the title Chartered Accountant (CA) since 1998. Dr Fung obtained his PhD in educational psychology from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). His PhD research was on university students’ motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning, using quasi-experimental mixed-methods approach. Blending both the practical and the theory, his passion is to develop learners as critical thinkers in the field that they are embarking on. Leveraging his PhD and Master’s research in self-regulated learning, cognitive modelling and cognitive task analysis, Dr Fung provides useful “thinking tools” for his learners to achieve sound understanding and application of the subject content. He conducts training, both in-course and corporates, regularly. He uses CARE (Context, Application, Reflect and Evaluate) approach, an approach that Dr Fung has developed, in his teaching and training, making him one of the sought-after lecturers and trainers in the field. In research, Dr Fung is a member of both the business innovation and scholarship of teaching and learning research clusters. He is an accredited supervisor to supervise both masters and PhDs as principal coordinating supervisor. He has a YouTube channel, providing invaluable resources for master and PhD students. In addition to being a researcher and an author, Dr Fung is also a reviewer for SCOPUS and MyCite indexed journals.