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Some companies may mislead stakeholders by using the flexibility in accounting standards when determining the amount of profit to be disclosed, a practice referred to as earnings management. Deferred taxes are one of the flexibilities that enable this practice. This study contributes to the growing literature on earnings management in private companies by focusing on deferred taxes and tax planning. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between deferred tax assets, deferred tax expense and tax planning of companies with earnings management. Data from companies listed in the Borsa Istanbul BIST 30 index in Türkiye for 2013–2022 are analyzed using panel data methods. The study results show that deferred tax expenses and deferred tax assets negatively impact earnings management. The analysis including tax planning reveals that deferred tax expenses, deferred tax assets and tax planning also have a negative impact on earnings management. However, tax planning reduces the impact of deferred tax expense on earnings management.