Abstract

<p>This study examined the effect of tax credits and tax exempts on the operating profits of listed firms. It used the Dangote Group of Companies in Nigeria, as its population. Anchored on the Benefit theory of taxation, two objectives and hypotheses were formulated and tested. The researcher employed ex post facto research design and used panel data collected from annual financial reports of the sampled companies (Dangote Cement Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc), for 2013 to 2022. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and analyzed using panel regression technique. The study proxy firm characteristics using tax credits (TXCDT), and tax exempts (TXEMP) as predictor variables; while Operating profit (OPP) was used as measure of the dependent variable. Results revealed that tax credit had negative and insignificant effect on the companies’ operating profits. It was also found that tax exempts had negative but significant effect on their operating profits. Accordingly, the study recommended that tax credits doesn’t matter, since it does not significantly affect operating profits. Hence, companies should place less emphasis on tax credits. Finally, it was also recommended that companies should take steps to earn more tax-exempt incomes; since they affect operating profit of listed firms significantly and positively</p>