The potential importance of the tax accounts for an adversarial party presents a quandary for managers. On the one hand, they face the usual incentives to account for income taxes in a manner that reduces financial reporting costs, which would normally occur by minimizing the income tax expense and thus maximizing after-tax book profits. On the other hand, reporting low income taxes may provide a red flag for the taxing authorities, lowering their search costs, and reducing the firm’s after-tax profits. Reporting low income taxes also can lead to negative publicity and potentially unfavorable legislation. Thus, AFIT choices must balance the information flows to the government with those to other users of the financial statements.