TAX AVOIDANCE STRATEGIES AND EARNINGS PER SHARE OF LISTED CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract This study examined the impact of tax avoidance strategies on earnings per share of listed construction/real estate companies in Nigeria, with specific focus on the effects of effective tax rate and capital intensity on earnings per share. An ex-post facto research design was adopted, using secondary financial data obtained from the published annual reports and financial statements of purposively selected listed construction/real estate companies in Nigeria. Effective tax rate was measured as total tax paid divided by profit before tax, while capital intensity was measured as non-current assets divided by total assets. Earnings per share was obtained from the annual reports and financial statements of the selected companies. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and panel regression analysis. The Levin, Lin and Chu and Im, Pesaran and Shin unit root tests were conducted to establish the stationarity of the panel data, while pooled, fixed-effects and random-effects models were considered for the panel estimation. The findings revealed that effective tax rate had a positive and significant impact on earnings per share (β = 1.049, p = .001), while capital intensity had a positive but insignificant impact on earnings per share (β = 0.886, p = .318). The study concluded that effective tax rate was significantly associated with earnings per share, whereas capital intensity did not have a statistically significant impact on earnings per share of listed construction/real estate companies in Nigeria. The study recommended that management should strengthen tax planning by identifying legitimate tax credits, deductions, capital allowances and other applicable incentives while maintaining compliance with Nigerian tax laws. It further recommended that investment in non-current assets should be guided by rigorous commercial viability assessments to ensure that fixed assets generate sufficient revenue, cost savings or productivity gains to justify the capital committed. Keywords: Tax avoidance strategies; Effective tax rate; Capital intensity; Earnings per share.