Tax Aggressiveness and Sustainability of Listed Oil and Gas Firms in Nigeria: Does Firm Size Matter?

Abstract

This study empirically investigated the relationship which exists between tax aggressiveness moderated by firm size and sustainability of oil and gas firms in Nigeria. In order to determine the relationship between tax aggressiveness and corporate sustainability, tax aggressiveness was measured using effective tax rate while corporate sustainability on the other hand was proxy using social-environmental performance. The formulated hypotheses to guide the investigation and the statistical test of parameter estimates was conducted using OLS regression model operated with STATA V.15. Ex Post Facto design was adopted and data for the study were obtained from the published annual reports and accounts of listed oil & gas firms on Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) spanning from 2013-2021. The findings of the study generally indicate that tax aggressiveness has significant and positive relationship with sustainability of quoted firms in Nigeria at 1% significant level. In the same vein, it was noted that firm size moderates the relationship between tax aggressiveness and corporate sustainability at 5% level of significance. Thus, the study concludes that tax aggressiveness ensures sustainability of firms in Nigeria. The study however suggests the need for corporate organizations to engage the services of tax consultants to assist them to organize the firm’s financial dealings in such a way t hat t he firm suffers a minimum tax liability.