Effects of Income Tax Variability on Investment Under Uncertainty and Irreversibility: A Study of Nigerian Listed Firms

This study examines the effects of income tax variability on investment under uncertainty and irreversibility with particular reference to the Nigerian listed firms. The research is based on ex facto design. The population for this study consists of only quoted Nigerian companies that have 2012 to 2016 annual financial reports. We selected a sample of 35 Nigerian firms engaged in non-financial activities. Thus, data were obtained from the annual reports of the sampled firms and publications of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) such as fact-books and NSE annual reports. For data analytical tool, the balanced panel data regression technique was adopted to avoid the problem of muilticolinearity, aggregation bias and endogeneity problems. The goodness of fit of the model was tested using the coefficient of determination (R-squared), descriptive statistics, correction matrix, ordinary least square using Stata 13 software. The study revealed among others that income tax variability has a negative effect on investment but failed the statistical significance test. So, in order to enhance tax certainty so as to curb investment irreversibility decision, the study recommends reduction in bureaucracy and in the frequency of tax changes as the most effective tools.