CORPORATE TAX PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE OF NIGERIAN LISTED OIL & GAS FIRMS

Corporate tax is obligatory and constitutes an unbalanced transfer of resources to theg overnment with a negative impact on firm performance. However, organizations adopt tax planning strategies to curtail tax liability without adverse effect on firm performance. Thus, this study examined the relationship between tax planning and performance of Nigerian listed Oil & Gas firms. Thestudy adopted a descriptive research design and secondary data were collected from selected five firms over a period of six years (2012-2017). Descriptive Statistics and simple pooled Ordinary Least Square regression analysis were used to evaluate the probable relationship among the identified variables. The indices of determination for corporate tax planning are: Effective Tax Rate(ETR); Firm Size (FS); Firm Age (FAGE); Financial Leverage (FL) and Return on Assets (ROA) for performance. The results of the study showed that ETR, FS, and FAGE have significant relationship with ROA of Nigerian listed Oil & Gas firms (p<0.05). However, FL has negative and insignificant relationship with ROA of Nigerian listed Oil & Gas firms (p>0.05). The study concluded that an optimal mix of tax planning strategies enhance performance of Nigerian listed Oil & Gas firms. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of Nigerian listed Oil & Gas firm should incorporate tax planning into their overall financial scheme for improved performance.