Is Tax an Expense or Appropriation of Profit? – A review of The Impact of Taxation and Tax Savings on the Financial Performance of Companies

Abstract

This study reviews the notion of tax as a controllable expense that can affect the financial performance of companies. This study investigates the impact of taxation and tax savings on the financial performance of commercial entities by examining both the theoretical and empirical frameworks and operational data of the firms examined. The study employed an ex-post facto research design to collect data from 111 firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and analyzed the data using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), while the interviews were transcribed and thematically analyzed. The results affirmed earlier findings that tax savings do indeed impact companies’ financial performance but suggest that there is no significant difference between the expected tax due to profits and the actual tax paid by firms, thereby faulting the view that tax is a controllable expense.