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The paper aims to analyze the influence of the selected financial determinants on profitability as a key determinant of corporate performance success. The sample includes 473 joint-stock companies in the Republic of Serbia that were actively operating in period 2017-2021. Panel data evaluation revealed the presence of a significant positive influence of the company size, growth, and cash flow on profitability, as well as a significant negative influence of the capital and asset structures. In contrast, the influence of liquidity and a tax shield on profitability is statistically insignificant. The obtained results primarily serve the management who can consider the indicators of the business done by joint-stock companies in order to improve profitability and ensure proper resource allocation. They are also useful for investors in planning investment and operational activities with the aim of a more effective and more efficient achievement of profitability goals. The results are also aimed at other stakeholders who want to create a profitability growth and corporate performance strategy directed towards ensuring long-term growth.

The objective of the current paper is to study the influence of the selected business and institutional determinants on the annual effective tax rates in banks in Serbia. Panel data regression models are applied on 113 observations, covering the period from 2017 to 2021, where the accounting and current effective tax rates are used as a measure of the actual tax burden. The results show that the effective tax rate in banks in Serbia is significantly below the statutory level. Furthermore, for each data set, the coefficients of changes in the effective tax rate are calculated, and the most adequate model is selected using the Hausman and Breusch-Pagan tests. In the first model, the biggest change in the effective tax rates is caused by change in leverage, merger and acquisition processes and the bank size. The presence of loan loss provisions in the model completely highlights the impact of profitability and leverage. Finally, in the last model, banks with a profit before tax can manage effective tax rates and tax burdens by regulating capitalization levels. The results of this study are of interest for economy creators and for business managers in banks, helping them in effective tax planning and managing the results.