BOARD HETEROGENEITY, AUDIT COMMITTEE GENDER AND CORPORATE TAX AGGRESSIVENESS OF LISTED CONSUMER GOODS FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Aggressive tax planning are activities generally designed to reduce tax liability that includes tax evasion and
legitimate saving of taxes. This study therefore aims to examine the impact of board heterogeneity on the tax
aggressiveness, as well as the moderating effect of audit committee gender on the relationship between board
heterogeneity and tax aggressiveness of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Data were collected from one
hundred and seventy financial years of firms in Nigeria from 2013-2022. The study analysed the data by means
of descriptive statistics and correlation techniques. The regression results revealed that board nationality and
board education have significant impact on tax aggressiveness. The finding of the study however, revealed that
board composition has significant negative impact on tax aggressiveness. Similarly, the result from moderating
model revealed that audit committee gender influenced the relationship between board heterogeneity and tax
aggressiveness of the firms. The study therefore concludes that board heterogeneity is important in tax planning
activities. The study recommends that the firms should maintain the number of foreign directors as well as
maintaining the number of directors with training in accounting, finance and economics in order to continue to
improving their tax planning activities. Similarly, the role of AC gender should be given ultimate attention when
nominating AC members, since it improved the relationship between board heterogeneity and tax planning of
consumer goods firms in Nigeria.