Board Attributes and Tax Aggressiveness among Listed Firms in Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between board attribute and tax aggressiveness of publicly quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Specifically, this study assessed the extent to which board size, board independence, and board meetings relate to effective tax rate of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Further, this study applied ex-post facto research design using a population of sixty-two listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used in selecting the sample size of forty-six firms while secondary data were sourced from audited financial statements of the sampled firms over a ten-year period from 2014-2023. The regression result revealed that board independence (coefficient = -0.057, P-value = 0.521] and board meetings (coefficient = 0.044; P-value = 0.630) have no statistically significant relationship with tax aggressiveness but a statistically significant relationship was found between board size (coefficient = 0.214; P-value=0.009]. This result calls for some strategic recommendations for managing tax concerns among manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This study concludes that while board size may align with tax conservatism/compliance, board independence and diligence have no significant contribution to tax aggressiveness. Therefore, this study recommends that management should consider optimizing board size to enhance tax planning strategies that minimize cash tax payments while ensuring regulatory compliance.

Keywords: Board Independence, Board Size, Board Meetings, Tax Aggressiveness, Nigeria.