CEO narcissism often overlooks the long- term repercussions of the company’s tax evasion tactics. Aggressive tax avoidance can damage the company’s reputation, leading to legal risks and tax penalties. Narcissistic CEOs may not fully consider these risks, as their focus tends to be on personal gains or quick achievements. This can result in significant long-term losses for the company, both financially and in terms of reputation. Overall, CEO narcissism tends to have a detrimental effect on corporate tax evasion since they raise the possibility of unsustainable tactics that will ultimately hurt the business.

H1: CEO narcissism influences corporate tax avoidance.

Corporate tax avoidance is influenced by gender diversity since having more women in senior management might curtail tax evasion. This aligns with the eschelon theory, where addressing company issues becomes more focused on improving corporate image and avoiding tax avoidance, ultimately benefiting the company's sustainability.

A board of directors with a greater gender diversity is probably more moral and aware of the company's social obligations. Gender diversity is often associated with stricter oversight of management and corporate financial policies. In this context, it implies that companies with more diverse boards are less likely to engage in risky tax avoidance practices. Companies with high board gender diversity are also more likely to care about their reputation in the eyes of investors, stakeholders, and the general public. They are also more likely to avoid scandals, including those related to tax avoidance, in order to maintain a positive corporate image.

H2: Board Gender Diversity influences corporate tax avoidance.

Companies with high capital intensity (ie, those that own a significant amount of fixed assets such as factories, machinery, or properties) often have advantages in using asset depreciation and investment tax credits. They can take advantage of tax regulations that allow for gradual depreciation of physical assets, which ultimately reduces their taxable income. The larger the amount of depreciable fixed assets, the greater the potential for tax avoidance by the company.

Corporate tax evasion is positively impacted by capital intensity. The higher the capital intensity level, the more likely a company is to invest in fixed assets and use the resulting depreciation expenses to minimize its tax liability, thereby affecting the effective tax rate (Darsani & Sukartha, 2021) . Large capital allows companies to use more aggressive strategies in managing their tax obligations. Capital intensity also tends to provide more opportunities for companies to exploit tax loopholes through asset depreciation and complex financial structures.

H3: Capital intensity influences corporate tax avoidance.

The ego of narcissistic CEOs tends to become stronger when they also hold significant power, which limits their willingness to engage in irresponsible ESG actions. Companies with a strong ESG commitment may exhibit more moderate tax avoidance practices, even when led by a narcissistic CEO (Chang et al., 2023)

The ego of narcissistic CEOs tends to grow stronger when they also hold significant power, which limits their willingness to engage in irresponsible ESG actions. Companies with a strong ESG commitment may exhibit more moderate tax avoidance practices, even when led by a narcissistic CEO.

The relationship between the narcissistic traits of a CEO and ESG practices in corporate tax avoidance is still relatively underexplored, especially considering the increasing pressure from stakeholders to increase transparency and corporate social responsibility. Understanding this dynamic is crucial. This research continues to develop theories and conduct cross-country analyzes to better understand the different cultural and regulatory contexts. These findings will provide deeper insights into the complex interactions between leadership characteristics, gender diversity, capital intensity, and corporate tax avoidance practices.

H5: ESG influences the moderation of board gender diversity on corporate tax avoidance.

ESG can positively moderate the connection between corporate tax evasion and female diversity on boards. When a company has a strong commitment to ESG standards, it tends to be more cautious in its tax decisions. With ESG as a focus, a gender-diverse board may feel more compelled to prioritize ethics and social responsibility, which can reduce aggressive tax avoidance practices.

Companies with both board gender diversity and a strong ESG commitment are more likely to care about their reputation. They may be more reluctant to engage in tax avoidance practices that could harm their image in the eyes of stakeholders.

H5: ESG influences the moderation of board gender diversity on corporate tax avoidance.

The association between corporate tax evasion and capital intensity can be considerably mitigated by ESG. Better governance structures are frequently found in businesses that include ESG principles, which can restrain aggressive tax evasion strategies. This means that even if a company has high capital intensity, it is more likely to operate within strict ethical and legal boundaries. Commitment to ESG increases the demand for transparency in financial and tax reporting. Companies with a focus on ESG may be more inclined to avoid tax avoidance practices that could harm their reputation.

Withafocuson ESG, companiesaremorelikely to pay attention to compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including those related to taxes. This can reduce the tendency for aggressive tax avoidance even if they have high capital intensity

H6 : ESG influences the moderation of capital intensity on corporate tax avoidance.

1) CEO Narcissism

CEO narcissism,withasamplesize(N of126,had a minimum value of 1.00 and a maximum value of 2.00,with an a verage value of 1.2222 and a standard deviation value of 0.41740, according to the statistical test results.

2) Board Gender Diversity

The statistical test findings indicate that, with a sample size (N) of 126, board gender diversity has a minimum value of 11.15, a maximum value of 13.88, an average value of 12.4324, and a standard deviation of 0.72949.

3) Capital Intensity

Table 1 statistical test findings indicate that, with a sample size (N) of 126, Capital Intensity has a minimum value of 2.00, a maximum value of 4.00, an average value of 3.0000, and a standard deviation of 0.25298.

According to the statistical test findings derived from Table 1, Corporate Tax Avoidance, with a sample size (N) of 126, has an average value of 0.5180, a standard deviation of 0.24277, a minimum value of 0.12, and a maximum value of 0.94.

The statistical test results from Table 1 show that the ESG moderation variable with a sample size (N) of 126 has an average value of 0.790 and has a standard deviation value of 0.5745.

a) Data Normality Test Result

In Table 2 above, the results of the Kolmogorov- Smirnov test show that Asymp.Sig.(2-tailed) is 0.058, this value is greater than the significant value of 0.05. Thus, it can be concluded that the data is normally distributed or acceptable.

b) Multicollinearity Test

Table 3 below indicates that the VIF is less than 10 and the tolerance value is greater than 0.1. Therefore, it may be claimed that there are no signs of multicollinearity between the variables in this study, or that there is no association between the independent and moderation factors.

c) Autocorrelation Test

In the output results of Table 4, the Durbin- Watson value is 0.760. Thus, the Durbin-Watson value is in the interval -2 to 2, so it can be ascertained that the multiple linear regression model does not have autocorrelation symptoms.

d) Heteroscedasticity Test

A good and ideal regression model may be met because the data inTable 5 indicates that the variable’s significance value is larger than 0.05, indicating that there is no heteroscedasticity issue in this study.

a) Coefficient of Determination Test (R Square)

The adjusted R2 value obtained is 0.31. This indicates that the dependent variable of corporate tax avoidance can be explained by the independent and moderating variables while the remaining 0.69 is determined by other variables not analyzed in this study.

b) F Statistic Test

The CEO Narcissism variable's T-test findings show a positive t-value of 0.248 with a significance level of 0.804 <0.05. According to the study's findings, the first hypothesis is accepted. Thus, "CEO Narcissism has an effect on Corporate Tax Avoidance" is a variable. but not really important.

Corporate tax evasion is influenced by the narcissism of the CEO. The likelihood that the business will participate in tax evasion increases with the narcissism of the CEO. Because narcissistic CEOs prioritize their own success and business earnings, they may be more inclined to take chances, especially by using tax evasion tactics. CEO choices are observable and psychological. (Trisnawati et al., 2023) .

The findings of this study are consistent with earlier research showing that business tax dodging is positively impacted by CEO narcissism. Increased tax dodging is a result of greater CEO narcissism, which is one way that the CEO's personality-more specifically, narcissisminfluences business decisions. (Araújo et al., 2021) (García-Meca, 2021) .

The second hypothesis is accepted since the board gender diversity calculation yielded a positive t count of 4.282 with a significance level of 0.000 <0.05. This indicates that the board gender diversity variable significantly and favorably influences the dependent variable, tax avoidance.

These findings suggest that business tax avoidance is decreased when there are more women on the board of directors. Corporate tax policy may be influenced by the percentage of women on a company’s board. greatly lowering the likelihood of tax evasion, both directly and indirectly, when these findings are consistent with studies (Dakhli, 2022) (Kalbuana et al., 2023)(Hoseini et al., 2019) .

The Capital Intensity variable has no effect and is not significant on the dependent variable, according to the results of the T statistical test, which shows a positive t-value of 1.480 with a significant level of 0.142> 0.005. company’s tax dodging technique has nothing to do with capital intensity. Businesses with a lot of fixed assets nonetheless fulfill their tax responsibilities in compliance with the law; they don’t need a unique plan to engage in tax evasion.

The study's findings are consistent with earlier research that found no relationship between capital intensity and corporate tax evasion. This refutes the agency theory, which holds that a company's capital intensity correlates with its level of tax evasion. (Sulaeman & Surjandari, 2024) (Pratiwi et al., 2024) .

With a significance level of 0.000 <0.05, the environmental, social, and governance moderation variable has a positive t-value of 4.109. Thus, ESG can have a substantial and favorable moderating effect. Companies are less likely to participate in tax avoidance the more they pay attention to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. To put it another way, businesses that are more dedicated to ESG practices typically refrain from tax evasion because these activities are frequently linked to social responsibility, transparency, and moral corporate conduct.

In the results of the ESG moderation T-test on narcissism towards corporate tax avoidance, the t-count was 1.465 and a significant value of 0.146> 0.05. This means that ESG strengthens the influence of CEO narcissism on corporate tax avoidance, so the fourth hypothesis is accepted. although not significant. The higher the CEO's narcissism and the increase in the company's attention to ESG factors, the company's tax avoidance tends to increase. This demonstrates that the impact of narcissism on tax evasion may be more pronounced when a CEO with narcissistic features works in a workplace that prioritizes ESG. However, with statistically insignificant results, it cannot be stated with certainty that ESG can actually moderate the relationship between CEO narcissism and corporate tax avoidance.

This research is related to previous research which revealed that overconfident CEOs influence narcissistic CEOs' policies to avoid involvement in irresponsible ESG practices to maintain their reputation (Martínez-Ferrero et al., 2024) .

With a negative t-value of -3.521 and a significance level of 0.001 <0.05, the T statistical test findings reveal that ESG tends to The fifth hypothesis is accepted, and there is a negative correlation between ESG moderation and the impact of board gender diversity. The impact of board gender diversity on corporate tax evasion is somewhat mitigated by ESG. When ESG factors are taken into account within the company, the relationship between gender diversity on the board of directors and tax avoidance will weaken. so that companies with higher gender diversity on the board of directors may be less involved in tax avoidance practices, especially when the company also has a strong focus on ESG principles.

The relationship between corporate governance and disclosure of governance is weakened by gender diversity in the board of directors, which can lower risk and promote financial consistency (stability), according to prior research on women's general characteristics in Thomaso. (Riguen et al., 2020) (Marheni et al., 2024) this phenomenon is also accompanied by an increase in socially responsible investment. This study investigates the moderating role of gender diversity in the relationship between the individual dimensions of ESG (environmental disclosure, social disclosure, and governance disclosure.

Based on the results of the T test, it shows a negative t count of -1.613 and a significance value of 0.109 > 0.05. ESG moderation tends to weaken the relationship between meaning that when there is an increase in capital intensity in the company, ESG helps lessen the likelihood that businesses will engage in tax evasion. ESG-focused businesses are less likely to engage in tax evasion the larger their fixed assets. Despite their high capital intensity, firms may be less likely to engage in tax dodging if they are encouraged to be more open and socially conscious by strong ESG.

According to earlier studies, businesses engage in management activities by following the law and being accountable for the environment and society. ESG initiatives can also reduce a company’s involvement in tax evasion. The relationship between organizational capital and corporate tax avoidance is manifested in companies with good governance and internal environment to deal with financial constraints that occur (Sadjiarto et al., 2024) (Hasan et al., 2020) .