Corporate tax shield or fraud? Insight from Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish whether inefficiency in a tax system and the likely difficulty in resolving tax matters can reduce the appeal for tax shield as incentive for debt financing, and by so doing exacerbate the cases of tax fraud. Design/methodology/approach A review approach/theoretical approach is adopted in the paper, where, in addition to reviewing literature on the relationship between tax incentives and corporate financing, the paper examines the structure of the Nigerian tax system, the gaps, and some pending tax cases involving foreign firms in Nigeria. Based on some theoretical judgments, efforts were made to link the rising cases of tax frauds to the dwindling appeal for tax shield as an incentive for the use of debt. Findings The study reveals that, as in the case of Nigeria, an environment of multiple tax system reduces incentives to pay tax or for voluntary compliance; that the exclusion of crucial non‐debt tax shelters such as depreciation, heightens pressure on the use of debt‐based tax shelters; and that controversies on deductibility make it difficult to distinguish between criminal and civil proceedings in tax cases. Research limitations/implications The paper is only theoretical. The number of cases captured is very limited. However, the issue of tax frauds among corporate entities in the country remains very popular. Originality/value The paper is the first to examine the likelihood of an inefficient tax environment to reduce the appeal of tax shield as an incentive to debt financing.

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